Top Cardinals pitching prospect has ominous start to 2025 season

The Memphis Redbirds open their season a day after the St. Louis Cardinals had an exciting victory in their season opener but the Triple-A affiliate already has some injury news worth noting. Tink Hence, who was rated as the team's third-best prospect and #76 overall by MLB.com, will be starting the season on the AAA injured list with a right rib cage strain.

Hence entered the season looking to work past previous injury concerns

Tink Hence has yet to top 100 innings at any level of professional baseball since being drafted in the second round of the 2020 draft. His athleticism and starter's pitcher mix has ranked him in the top-100 prospects in various outlets, but Hence's development has been stalled multiple times. The Cardinals looked to move the prep pitcher slowly through the system, but that plan has hit plenty of snags since joining the organization.

The lanky righty has a wide range of outcomes for the Cardinals, being rated as both a top starting pitcher prospect and a potential closer of the future, depending on which expert analysis you go with. Since his solid 2022 debut, the organization has touted Hence as a future big league starter but remained cautious with his workload. That cautious approach did not seem to matter much, because even with the limitations, Hence has been on the injured list with a lat strain and chest tightness that has halted his development since reaching the upper minors.

The recent news of his right rib cage strain is of more concern since it is his throwing arm side and there were no previous reports of him working through any soreness or injuries while with the big-league club in spring training. However, he did struggle during his brief stay in Jupiter and was moved to minor league camp for the remainder of camp. While it is not especially out of the ordinary to lose track of prospects once they are re-assigned, any injury news from a top prospect would make its way to the media relatively quickly.

This is a further blow to the 22-year-old's bid for his major league debut. There was chatter from people familiar with Cardinals prospects who thought that Hence could at least make a late-season cameo in St. Louis this season, but it may be back to the drawing board for the organization as they try to maximize Hence's potential. There will surely be updates on the status of his rib cage strain in the coming days, but a development plan will probably take longer to come up with.

Unfortunately for both Hence and the Cardinals, it appears that a move to the bullpen would be what is best for both parties. This could end up being a blessing in disguise for Tink, as any potential move out of the rotation could streamline his call-up as long as he bounces back from his newest malady. It could be in the Cardinals' best interest to use Hence at the big-league level whenever he is fully healthy just to be sure they get some return on investment from their second-round pick.