By Rob Rains
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – This was supposed to be a big year for Tink Hence, one of the top pitching prospects in the Cardinals’ organization, a chance for him to show that he was on the verge of being ready to pitch in the major leagues.
Instead, it’s been one of the longest, most frustrating years in Hence’s life.
“It’s frustrating, but you can’t wear that on you every day,” Hence said. “All you can do is keep moving forward. … I’m just trying to stay in good spirits.
“I still believe in myself. I know what type of pitcher I am. I know when I am healthy what I am going to do.”
Hence, who celebrated his 23rd birthday on Aug. 6, began the season on the 60-day injured list. That move was designed at least in part to give Hence time to work on some changes in his mechanics that the organization wanted to see as much as it was because of an injury.
A slow ramp-up followed, with five rehab starts in the lower levels of the farm system before Hence made his first start for Springfield on June 20. He worked 4 1/3 innings of what turned out to be a combined no-hitter against Corpus Christi.
What followed were just two more starts, with Hence pitching a combined 6 1/3 innings, before he returned to the injured list after the start on July 3. The latest injury has been described as inflammation in his right shoulder.
“I went through the build up to get in a grove and the next thing you know something else starts to bother you,” Hence said. “Here I am again right now trying to get back on the field.
“Going through all of this is not fun, when you are not able to go out and be my best, but I just have to keep working. That’s all I can do. It might feel like, ‘Dang, it’s not going to get any better,’ but you have to trust that eventually it will. … You just have to keep believing.”
Hence is working on strengthening his shoulder and has had a couple of recent side sessions in the bullpen which were encouraging. He is scheduled to throw another bullpen, then live batting practice next week. His future schedule will be determined after that.
The goal, for both Hence and the organization, is to get him back on the mound before the end of the season.
“I just want to go out and pitch and have fun and feel good,” Hence said. “I am just trying to work through it and pushing myself each and every day to get over that hump. After starting off the season on the IL it’s been a consistent battle the whole time.”
Hence, who was the Cardinals’ second-round pick in the 2020 draft, has never thrown more than 96 innings in a season, which he did in 2023, when he made 23 starts combined between Peoria and Springfield.
He started 20 games last season, all for Springfield, holding opponents to a .204 batting average while striking out 109 batters in 79 2/3 innings, earning him praise as not only one of the Cardinals’ best pitching prospects but one of the best in the game.
The injury setbacks this season have limited him to a combined 21 1/3 innings, including his rehab starts, and again raised concern among some skeptics that Hence just might be injury-prone.
Hence doesn’t pay attention to those comments.
“Everybody’s going to have their own opinion,” Hence said. “You can see everything all over the Internet. It’s just part of it. People are going to doubt, people are going to give up … Everybody doesn’t like a guy who’s not playing.
“But people don’t see the inside. They don’t know you are working, that’s the biggest thing. I just want to feel 100 percent and feel good and be on the field. You never want to get too down with what I’m going through because somebody else is going through the same thing if not worse.
“In my eyes I feel like I am wasting time, wasting a year, but who am I to control that or to judge myself? In my eyes I’m holding myself back but I can only do so much.”
Hence knows that two of the organization’s best pitching prospects, Tekoah Roby and Cooper Hjerpe, have undergone Tommy John surgery this year and could miss most of next season as well while they are recovering.
None of Hence’s injuries have required surgery and none have been to his elbow, which he knows is the best part of everything he has experienced.
“I’m trying to learn more and more so eventually I won’t have to keep going through this,” Hence said.
There is just over a month left in Springfield’s regular-season and the team already has clinched a spot in the playoffs as the first half champion in the Texas League’s northern division. Their win on Wednesday night was their seventh in a row and improved their overall record this year to 71-39, one of the records in the minor leagues.
Even though he hasn’t been able to contribute to many of those wins, Hence said he is enjoying being on such a successful team – and hopeful there is still time for him to play a role in that success.
“I’m enjoying being here, even though I haven’t been playing like I want,” he said. “Hopefully I will be able to get back out there.”
Springfield manager Patrick Anderson believes that will happen, based on what he has seen from Hence in his recent workouts.
“I feel bad for him but mentally he’s grinding through it,” Anderson said. “We’re just trying to get him on the mend. His arm is starting to come back really good, knock on wood. He’s going to throw another bullpen, then a couple of lives, and we will see where he is. We want him.”
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Photo courtesy of Springfield Cardinals
