Oft-injured Cardinals prospect begins rehab assignment in electric fashion

The St. Louis Cardinals' minor league pitching depth has been getting hit hard with injuries since the start of the season, but the team is finally getting some good news. After Quinn Mathews made a strong return in a rehab start with the FCL Cardinals, Tink Hence began his own rehab assignment on Wednesday.

Tink Hence was electric in his first rehab appearance with Cardinals' affiliate Palm Beach.

Coming into the season, former second-round pick Tink Hence was receiving plenty of preseason recognition as one of the Cardinals' top prospects. He was named a top-100 prospect in multiple national outlets, ranked as the organization's #3 overall prospect via MLB.com, and is armed with a changeup that was rated as the best in the minor leagues. However, he has been consistently plagued with injuries, and despite the fact that he has quality starter stuff, his inability to stay on the mound has some experts believing that Hence has the potential to slot in as a future closer.

Hence was ready to move past those injury questions after being included in big league camp during Spring Training this year, but he was ineffective in 3.1 innings and quickly re-assigned to minor league camp. That is where Hence's preseason ramp-up would end, though, as it was reported as camp broke that he was on the minor league 60-day injured list due to a rib cage strain. Following this announcement, there were few updates and no real news to report on his progression or a timeline for his return, but it appears that the recovery period has been going smoothly for the lanky righty.

It was reported early Wednesday morning that Hence would begin a rehab assignment with Single-A Palm Beach later that day. Hence looked great in his short spurt, throwing a scoreless inning with a strikeout and pickoff as well.

No further news was reported on pitch count moving forward, but the broadcast did confirm they'd continue to work Hence out as a starter. It should be expected that the team will work him back slowly, though, throwing short outings and seeing how he recovers before ramping up to a larger workload. If Hence is able to be effective with his command, maintain his velocity, and, more importantly, bounce back with a normal four or five days of rest, the Cardinals may choose to move him up the organization pipeline.

A healthy Hence would be a massive boost to the entire minor league system, as the organization is lacking pitching depth at the upper level of the minors. The team will need Mathews, Hence, Michael McGreevy, and Tekoah Roby to continue progressing and knocking on the door if the Cardinals plan to deal from their current major league rotation. With St. Louis currently performing as a playoff-caliber team, they will likely need at least one of those young arms to claim a meaningful role in the bigs at some point this season because of either injury or trade. McGreevy would be the first man up if a full-time vacancy were to appear on the current 26-man roster, but the Cardinals will need to continue developing starters in Memphis, especially those who have the ability to post elite strikeout numbers.