After another great outing last week in Tulsa, Tink Hence is now being talked about as someone who could figure into the St. Louis Cardinals plans…..this final six weeks.
The former Watson Chapel star is coming back strong after a month of time off recovering from fatigue and lower back issues. He had his longest outing in over a month, throwing 2 2/3 innings of one hit, shut out baseball, prompting writers who cover the team to profile his chances of a late season callup to the big leagues. This was reported in the Cardinals blog fanside.com
And here we are at the surprise of the list, top prospect Tink Hence. This one could go either way and I’m willing to see both sides of this decision.
The first thing to note here is that Hence, a 22-year-old right-hander, is still at the Double-A level. But the next thing to note is he’s dominating those hitters. He should have received a promotion weeks ago. In 13 starts, he has a 3.20 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. He’s allowed 46 hits and struck out 77 batters.
The righty has an electric fastball and a spectacular changeup. He complements these two offerings with two distinct breaking balls. Hence commands all of his pitches pretty well. So, yeah, he is still in Double-A, but he’s been spectacular. The Cardinals need to at least give him a chance to help them this year. He would be the electric arm that they missed out on at the deadline.
Hence will get another chance to impress the Cardinals brass tomorrow night, when he starts in Springfield against the San Antonio Missions. Could it be his final appearance in the minors? We shall see.
