The new year and new minor-league season that follows later this spring will bring new opportunities for Cardinals prospects. On the pitching side, it will bring prospects opportunities to build off the developments they made during the 2022 season.
For some minor-league pitchers within the Cardinals’ farm system including Tink Hence and 2022 first-round pick Cooper Hjerpe, that’ll mean new workloads.
Coming off a year where he threw just eight innings in eight outings of rookie ball in 2021, Hence threw 52 1/3 innings while spending the 2022 season in Class Low-A. The 20-year-old righty struck out 81 batters and walked 15 across 52 1/3 innings.