Cardinals release two former top prospects in a sobering reminder of what could have been

Flashback to the early 2020s, and the St. Louis Cardinals' pitching pipeline was highlighted by names like Matthew Liberatore, Tink Hence, and Zack Thompson, arms expected to help fill key roles for the club moving forward. Now, two were just released, and the other's future is still in question.

The Cardinals announced a list of minor league free agents that they resigned today and names that they parted ways with, with Hence and Thompson highlighting the list of names who are now minor league free agents.

While neither of those names being released should come as a shock to anyone, it is a sober reminder of what could have been, a caution about the uncertainty of young pitching, and a vote of confidence about the sheer depth of pitching the Cardinals now have that can help overcome their issues of the past.

The Cardinals are in a much stronger position with their pitching depth post-Tink Hence and Zack Thompson

Thompson, a first-round pick by the Cardinals in 2019 and was their number five prospect back in 2021, carved out a key role in their bullpen in 2022 and showed flashes as an intriguing starter in 2023, blew up 2024 with a 9.53 ERA, and never made it back to the Majors due to injuries and regression in performance.

Hence, who was ranked as highly as a top 50 prospect in the sport at different points in his development, was a higher-upside swing by the Cardinals in the 2020 MLB Draft. His smaller and wiry frame was always concerning for his long-term viability, and he could never stay on the mound long enough to see his stuff play to the level the Cardinals thought it could. Hence was outrighted back in August and went unclaimed.

Both should find opportunities with other clubs who will look to revitalize their careers, but the chapters closing on their Cardinals careers really do reveal how broken things had become down on the farm before their recent revitalization.

Hence and Thompson, along with names like Liberatore, Gordon Graceffo, Michael McGreevy, Brycen Mautz, Pete Hansen, Ian Bedell Johan Oviedo, and Andre Pallante, were the highlight names in the Cardinals farm system for quite some time. Most of those guys were seen as "safe" profiles in the sense that they could become fifth starters or bullpen arms, but when you "aim low", you tend to either hit low or miss all together.

Now, in the case of Hence or Liberatore, the Cardinals spent significant draft capital (Hence) and trade capital (Liberatore) to acquire higher-upside prospects, but missed on both. The lesson here shouldn't be don't take risks (though both had their own issues that could have been considered further), but rather that the Cardinals need to have a wealth of these arms at their disposal, and equally as important, the right development team alongside them, to reap the rewards they want to see.

It can't be overstated how much stronger of a position the Cardinals are in right now when it comes to pitching development. The cohesion between their scouting group and development group is as strong as it's ever been, and they have a wealth of arms to play with.

At the Major League level, they already have a nice group of arms headlined by Quinn Mathews, Cooper Hjerpe, Kyle Leahy, Michael McGreevy, Andre Pallante, Luis Gastelum, Cade Winquest, and Brycen Mautz. This gives them a solid base of young pitching to build on top of.

In the system, they have the likes of Liam Doyle, Tanner Franklin, Jurrangelo Cijntje, Tekoah Roby, Brandon Clarke, Yhoiker Fajardo, Jacob Odle, Tegan Kuhns, Daniel Eagen, Mason Molina, Brian Curely, Sandro Santana, Ixan Henderson, Xavier Cruz, Brian Holiday, Braden Davis, and so many other arms worth talking about. If you asked the Cardinals to rank those arms from the early 2020s as prospects with this group, I think you'd find that most of these arms are far more intriguing prospects than the group they had before.

The level of talent and the depth of those names are what make things different for the Cardinals this time around. No one is guaranteed success, but the more "shots" you have at hitting on arms for the rotation and bullpen, the better chance you have at hitting, especially when this player development group is as widely respected as it is.

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