Cardinals News: Top prospect optioned, Sonny Gray adjustments, David Freese impact

As the St. Louis Cardinals continue to trim down their roster as spring training winds down, multiple top prospects have made their way back to minor league camp, with Tink Hence being the latest addition to that list.

While Hence being optioned should come as no surprise, it was a bit telling that they have slated him to begin the year at Double-A once again. Hence was not as dynamic and exciting as fans had hoped he'd be on the mound during spring training action, but it does seem like the club is working on overhauling some things in his game to help him stay healthy long term and be able to go deeper into baseball games. This is just another sign that it may be a bit of a project year for the Cardinals' right-hander.

Hence, whom most regard as the Cardinals' third-best prospect and a top 100 prospect in the game, was drafted in 2020 out of high school but has had a slow development process. 2025 will be a huge year for the trajectory of his career.

Cardinals News: Sonny Gray adjustments, David Freese impact

Just a year after surrendering 21 home runs in 28 starts, Sonny Gray was bitten by the long ball again in his first spring training outing, allowing three home runs to the Houston Astros in two and two-thirds innings of work. And yet, Gray actually seemed to be pretty pleased with his outing.

When asked about some of those home run balls, Gray was actually happy with the execution on his 0-0 fastball that Jeremy Pena smashed for a lead-off home run. Why, you may ask? Because Gray was not throwing that pitch to get ahead in the count to Pena; he threw that fastball in that exact location to work on throwing that fastball in, you guessed it, that exact location.

Gray himself acknowledged he would never do that in a game that counts, but in his first spring outing, Gray was far more concerned with getting a feel for his pitches than game planning against batters. When his next outing comes around, he'll begin to mix in some of that game planning in order to attack certain hitters. But as far as Wednesday's outing goes, Gray felt good about what he accomplished.

In case you weren't aware, Cardinals legend and 2011 World Series Most Valuable Player David Freese has been in camp with the club this spring as an instructor. Multiple players have raved about having Freese around them during spring training, but for one Cardinal minor leaguer specifically, the experience has meant the world to him.

Wade Stauss, who went to the same high school that Freese did many years prior, grew up idolizing the former Cardinal third baseman and was awestruck by the experience of being around him. Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch had an awesome column on Stauss' viewpoint of meeting his hero, and I highly recommend checking that out.

Turns out the Cardinals do enjoy having some former legends around camp, contrary to popular belief.