OPINION|
During a dreadful season at the major-league level, especially when it comes to starting pitching, St. Louis Cardinals’ fans are looking for any sign of optimism they can find.
Tink Hence is a bright ray of hope. The slightly built 6-foot-1 right-hander has a thunderbolt for an arm that gives him an ability to light up radar guns and strike down opposing hitters. A few weeks away from his 21st birthday, this kid could be special.
Hence will not have an impact in 2023 for the St. Louis Cardinals. The organization is being super careful with his workload, letting him grow and learn at a gradual pace for a possible 2024 arrival in St. Louis. For now, he is ours to enjoy in Springfield.
Hence made his Double A debut for the Springfield Cardinals earlier this week at Hammons Field, treating more than 6,000 fans in attendance on July 4th to a fireworks display of talent. In five innings, Hence allowed one run, six hits and struck out five.
The stadium display in right field showed him hitting 99 miles-per-hour a few times. The team’s Trackman device in the dugout hit triple digits, much to the delight of an older, awestruck teammate.
“It’s about time we have a guy who throws 100,” first baseman Chandler Redmond said, with a big smile. “Everybody else has one. Now we do. Yeah!!! Let’s go!!!”
Redmond’s enthusiasm is shared by Cardinals Nation. Hence, part of the organization’s magical 2020 draft that also yielded Jordan Walker, Masyn Wynn and Alec Burlison, is the team’s No. 2-rated minor-league prospect by MLB.com behind Winn.
Teammates call him ‘a special talent'
“He’s a special talent,” Springfield second baseman Nick Dunn said. “It was a fun experience to get to see him here and play behind him for the first time.”
Hence called his first start at Hammons Field “awesome” and everything that Walker and Winn, plus his new Springfield teammates, had told him to expect.
“For me, to feel it for myself was amazing,” Hence said. “All the fans out there and it being 4th of July, what more could you ask for?”
With his grandmother and several family members from the Little Rock, Arkansas area in attendance, Hence admitted to a few nerves when he stepped onto the field for pre-game warm-ups and surveyed the scene.
“Every game I get those jitters right before, but when I step on the field and get ready to go out and compete, all that goes out the window. It’s time to work,” he said.
“Overall, I felt pretty good,” Hence added, noting that he had to dial up his game a couple of times when Amarillo put multiple runners on base. “I had to figure a way to bear down and pitch my way out of it. I also had some great plays behind me to give us a chance to win.”
Hence had a 2-1 record and 2.81 earned run average the first half of the 2023 season at High A Peoria. Overall in 36 minor league games since 2020, Hence is limiting opposing hitters to a .212 average in 107 innings with 146 strikeouts and only 31 walks.
Hence is ‘trusting the process'
But considering his age and the slow progression to pitch deeper into games, Hence knows the team is doing him a favor by the road map they’ve outlined. Hence said he’s fine-tuning all his pitches, including the fastball.
“I’m trying to learn to locate my fastball and all the off-speed (pitches). I’m big with my slider this year. It’s made some strides from last year. Also my changeup continues to improve and I feel like it’s coming.
“It’s about believing in God and trusting the process. I believe that everything has its own plan and a lot of things might be bad, but they come back two times better. I’m just taking the losses and learning and when you’re winning, finding a way to continue to succeed.
“Finding a routine and staying level-headed is the way to go. Once you do that, not too much can knock you off your game.”
For Hence, who grew up in Pine Bluff, Ark., landing with the Cardinals seems like it was destined to happen. He said his first big-league game to see in person was a Cardinals’ game at Busch Stadium when he was a bat boy for his brother’s travel team.
“We had a chance to walk around the field,” Hence said. “I’ve had a little Cardinals hat in my grandma’s house since I was seven or eight. I’ve always seen Cardinals stuff all over. I’d go into Walmart and see Cardinals gear. It’s kind of home-grown, but they also blessed me with an opportunity to chase my dream so I’m forever thankful to the Cardinals.”
Humble, confident — and competitive
Hence’s personality seems quite the opposite of his fastball. He’s soft spoken and humble, but quietly confident. He doesn’t know how quick his route to the big leagues will be, but clearly believes he will arrive there at some point.
For now, he’s happy to work on his craft with his biggest off-the-field goal to make a trip to Bass Pro Shops to find a top-notch fishing pole. He and teammate Victor Scott II, an outfielder promoted to Springfield just a few days before Hence, used to compete to see who could reel in the biggest bass from a pond near their apartment complex in Peoria.
“Me and Vic are pretty competitive,” Hence said. “Vic caught more fish. I was thinking of going down to Bass Pro and getting a better pole. I was thinking that’s why I wasn’t getting that many fish.”
The fishing competition — and Hence’s next Double A start — will have to wait a while. He and Scott are both headed to the prestigious MLB Futures Game July 8 in Seattle, site of next Tuesday’s MLB All-Star Game. The Futures Game brings together the best of the best of minor-league prospects.
“It’s a big accomplishment,” Hence said. “I remember about this time last year, Masyn and Jordan were able to go. Just watching the game, I told myself I wanted to be in that same position. I put in the work and I’ve been blessed enough to go and represent the Cardinals and represent myself.”
Springfield Cardinals upcoming schedule
After winning the first three games of their home series with Amarillo, the Springfield Cardinals (5-4 in the Texas League second half) play host to the Sod Poodles at 7:05 p.m. Friday, July 7, 6:35 p.m. Saturday, July 8, and 1:35 p.m. Sunday, July 9. The Cardinals are back home to open a six-game series against the Arkansas Travelers starting on July 18.
