Tink Hence during his windup (Jerry Kime/Getty Images)
The St. Louis Cardinals pitching prospect Tink Hence is seeing his stock rise due to his stellar performance in Single-A Peoria this season.
Another Gem From Stellar 2020 Draft Class
The Cardinals had one of their best drafts in recent memory in the shortened 2020 draft. The draft saw many teams selecting college players that were closer to major league ready. The Cardinals took somewhat of a risk choosing high school players with their first three selections. Their first pick was the current MLB.com number one prospect in all of baseball, Jordan Walker. They used their second pick to select current top 50 prospect, shortstop Masyn Winn. Acquiring those two would have been enough to consider it a good draft but the Cardinals weren’t done.
The Cardinals’ prospect Hence was selected with the team’s third pick in the draft. Some experts questioned the choice because of his size. At 6’1″ and 185 pounds Hence is smaller than the typical pitcher but has an electric arm that the organization couldn’t pass up.
Hence lights the radar gun up with a mid to high nineties fastball, a good curveball, a decent change up and a slider that seems to be a work in progress.
Cardinals Extra Careful With Pitching Prospect Tink Hence
The Cardinals have been careful with pitching prospect Hence’s workload. First, they limited him to only eight Florida Complex league appearances in 2021. The following season he was sent to Single-A Palm Beach. The organization put him on a three inning, fifty pitch limit at the start of the 2022 season. Undoubtedly hoping to preserve his arm for the future.
Dominating the Minors
He was truly dominant at Palm Beach. In 52.1 innings pitched he had a 1.38 ERA, an eye-popping 81 strikeouts and an excellent 0.879 WHIP. Obviously, he was ready to move up and face better competition.
After a strong showing in spring training the Cardinals opted to send Hence to Single-A Peoria to start the 2023 season. After dealing with a minor injury, he has continued to shine. In 25.2 innings pitched he has a 2.51 ERA, 28 strikeouts and has a respectable 1.130 WHIP. If he continues at this pace Hence may find himself in Double-A Springfield before the season is over.
At only twenty years of age the Cardinals’ prospect Hence still has room to grow. He will undoubtedly continue to rise in the prospect rankings. He is probably a couple years from the big leagues but is on track to being an impact player for a club that is in desperate need of pitching. The sky is the limit for Hence and he’s a player that fans should be excited about.
