The Road to The Show™: Cardinals’ Hence

Each week, MiLB.com profiles an elite prospect by chronicling the steps he's taken toward achieving his Major League dream. Here's a look at Cardinals second-ranked prospect Tink Hence. For more stories about players on The Road to The Show, click here.

After keeping his innings count low in his first two professional seasons, the Cardinals gave Tink Hence more room to work in 2023.

The results were a bit uneven for MLB Pipeline’s No. 42 overall prospect as he advanced from High-A Peoria and Double-A Springfield. A dreadful eight-start stretch at the end of the season in Springfield accounted for most of the damage to the overall impression of his season. During that span, Hence went 0-4 with an 8.59 ERA and a .356 batting average against.

The Cardinals can still glean some encouragement from Hence’s first crack at the Texas League. The 21-year-old was nearly five years younger than the circuit’s average age, and he did make three appearances in which he didn't allow an earned run.

Hence finished the season with a 4.31 ERA and 99 punchouts over 96 innings.

The right-hander’s mid-90s fastball, which can reach triple digits, gets terrific run to the top of the zone and is the featured item in an impressive four-pitch mix. He’s got a better feel for his slider and fading changeup than his biting, upper-70s curveball, but he can throw each offering for strikes and still generate a lot of swing and miss.

“First, I’m a competitor. I’m going to compete regardless if I have this fastball, this offspeed, whatever,” Hence told KSDK in St. Louis last spring. “Just being able to have a couple plus pitches to go along with the confidence and the mentality I feel like nothing can stop me. Just going out there and trying to get better each game, just figuring out more and more about myself and my pitches.”

Hence, whose given first name is Markevian, told the Peoria Journal Star that his mother, Mekol, gave him the nickname “Stinker” when he was 5 years old. It evolved to “Tinker” and then “Tink.”

The Pine Bluff, Arkansas native didn’t start pitching until he was 14. Growing up, he admired the late Yordano Ventura, the Royals right-hander who passed in 2017 and was also an undersized fireballer.

As an amateur at Watson Chapel High School in Arkansas, Hence was a well-traveled participant on the showcase circuit and played in the Breakthrough Series and Dream Series, both of which are MLB Develops programs, before the Draft.

He was Draft-eligible at just 17 years old and was one of the younger players in the 2020 class when he was selected by the Cardinals in the Competitive Balance round. He signed for $1.15 million, which was slightly above slot value for No. 63 overall pick.

Hence was on the phone with Masyn Winn, who had been picked by St. Louis only nine picks prior, when he was drafted by the Cardinals. Hence and Winn were both signed to the University of Arkansas and both played with the Sticks Baseball academy in Arkansas.

After waiting out the pandemic year, the Cardinals were cautious with Hence’s workload. He didn’t make his affiliated debut until June 28, 2021 in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League. The 6-foot-1 fireballer did not work more than 1 ⅔ innings in any of his eight appearances that season. He struck out 14 batters in eight total innings, compiling a 9.00 ERA.

Although he still had a limited workload as he shifted out of the complex to the Florida State League, the 2021 season was an important step for his development. Hence did not go beyond four innings in 16 starts for Single-A Palm Beach, but 11 of those outings were scoreless and he struck out at least four in all but one start. He finished with a 1.38 ERA and 81 punchouts in 52 ⅓ innings and was named an FSL All-Star.

Hence kept that momentum going in the Arizona Fall League, where he made nine appearances with Salt River. Against competition that was, on average, four years older, Hence allowed just two earned runs in 8 ⅓ total innings (2.16 ERA) and struck out nine. He was invited to participate in the Fall Stars game, where he induced a fly out from fellow 2020 Cardinals draftee Jordan Walker.

Hence made his Grapefruit League debut in February and logged four Spring Training appearances before reporting to Peoria. He did not allow a run in his first three Midwest League starts and left the circuit with a 3.02 ERA before being promoted after the All-Star break in July. He pitched a scoreless inning in the Futures Game at T-Mobile Park in Seattle and even struck out the Rays’ Junior Caminero, the No. 6 overall prospect.

The 2020 Draft class has proven fruitful so far for the Cardinals. Winn, Walker and second-rounder Alec Burleson have each made their Major League debuts. Hence is likely headed back to Springfield at the start of 2024.

The organization certainly has not been aggressive in Hence’s development. But as he continues to take steps forward, it’s possible for him to pitch his way into the big leagues as soon as next season.