Tink Hence stood outside the Springfield Cardinals’ clubhouse on May 26, before the team’s final game of its homestand, discussing the best pitching result of his professional baseball career.
With the Cardinals on the road the next two weeks, who knows if the St. Louis Cardinals’ No. 1 minor-league prospect has pitched for the last time in Hammons Field? Promotions sometimes come out of nowhere in minor-league baseball but, with the lightning that Hence has thrown in 2024, a promotion seems likely in the near future.
If so, Hence provided quite a farewell to local fans: Six shutout innings with 13 strikeouts, most for a Springfield pitcher in 15 years. Too bad the game started more than two hours late, due to a rain delay, as few were around to see all of Springfield’s 1-0 victory.
“I was joking around after (the game) and saying I haven’t struck out that many guys since travel ball, when I was 13 or 14 years old,” Hence said. “It feels good to throw up those numbers and put my team in a position to win.”
Hence felt this would be a breakthrough season
There have been ups and downs for Hence since he arrived in Double-A at the midseason of 2023, but he is starting to live up to his high ceiling. Over his last two starts, the 6-foot-1, 195-pound right-hander has allowed two runs, three walks and struck out 22 over 12 innings.
Hence is 3-2 with a 2.76 earned run average in nine starts this season and opponents are hitting a paltry .208 against him. Last season, he was 2-5 with a 5.47 ERA in 12 starts with Springfield, as opponents hit .283. The notable progress is no surprise to Hence, who said in preseason that he felt this would be a breakthrough year.
He said before the home opener that his goal was to make his big-league debut in St. Louis at some point in 2024.
“I know it was a big goal coming into the season, but I feel like I did everything I could in the offseason to be ready,” Hence said. “Then when the season came, I could slowly progress and show them.… it’s mainly for myself.
“I struggled a bit last year coming to this level. This is my second go-around for the test. I had all the answers from last year of what I needed to work on. Just coming into this season and proving that I studied the game.”
He has confidence in all four of his pitches
Hence feels stronger, physically and mentally, from last season. He’s shown confidence in throwing his fastball, changeup, slider or curve in any count.
“The game is physical and mental,” Cardinals pitching coach Eric Peterson said. “When you show up and have a certain confidence about what you can do and how you approach every single thing in getting better… it’s really impressive.
“He works hard and has taken that next step to what he needs to do. He has seen the results start to come through. Everyone who was here the other night got to see what he’s got. He’s got good stuff and can pitch. Just an awesome job by him.”
Asked how it feels to strike out 13 in six innings and if it felt easy, Hence smiled.
“I wouldn’t say it’s easy, but it’s a lot of fun,” he said, laughing. “Just to have everything working and to throw with conviction, you’re just having fun. It’s been a minute for me to go out and have my fastball moving how it was and to have my off-speed to go on top of it.”
Hence has a fastball clocked in the mid-90s that moves. His changeup was probably his best pitch last season, but he’s becoming more consistent with the curve and slider and made several Tulsa hitters look foolish at the plate.
Learning to let his defense help him
He doesn’t necessarily pitch with the intent of racking up strikeouts, but tries to “find a good balance” of swinging strikes and getting outs from soft contact. It’s a big difference from last season, when he simply sought outs any way he could get them.
“Last year, there were times when I just wanted to get through the inning and now I’m trying to get to the point where, OK, if my defense helps me out, let me take the pressure off them a little bit and strike a guy out here and there,” he said. “I’m just going and attacking out of the box with those four pitches, whether they get a hit or they ground out somewhere or I strike them out. It’s just attacking.”
Hence said he tries to learn each time out, through either success or failure.
“It just kind of opens your mind and shows there could be days things don’t go your way, even if you’re making good pitches,” he said of difficult starts. “I feel like that kind of humbles you and makes you more hungry and compete even harder. I take away the good things from the bad games and move on, try to erase the bad things and learn.
“Then the good games, you put it behind you and look forward to my next start, go out and try to do it again.”
Hence wants to get to Busch Stadium — and stay there
Hence is scheduled to make his next start on May 30 at Wichita. His next time pitching at Hammons Field wouldn’t be until approximately June 11, against Northwest Arkansas.
That is, unless he’s promoted to Triple-A Memphis before that. While he’s eager to climb the organizational ladder — and eventually get to St. Louis like some of his young friends like Masyn Winn, Victor Scott II and Jordan Walker already have — Hence is realistic.
“Sometimes you can be caught up in that, but I feel that I do a good job of realizing that everybody has a different path even though we have the same dreams,” Hence said. “Sometimes things come quicker to others. Knowing that I’m gonna eventually get my time, I’m taking it day-by-day and focusing on what I need to do, so when I get to that next level I’m fully ready and won’t have to go up and down.
“When I make it, I want to stay.”
Cardinals on the road
Springfield beat Wichita 2-1 on May 28 to open a 12-game road trip. The Cardinals (26-20) lead the Arkansas Travelers by one-half game in the Texas League North Division standings. Springfield returns to Hammons Field on June 11 to open a six-game homestand, against Northwest Arkansas.
