STL Cardinals Rumors: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Wainwright chase, falling prospect

STL Cardinals Rumors: Top prospect's stock on the decline in 2023

Tink Hence was a second-round pick in the 2020 MLB Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. To begin the 2023 season, he was ranked as the 77th-best overall prospect by MLB. He has since risen to 42nd by MLB Prospect rankings. On the field, though, Hence has struggled massively.

Hence has played in 23 games in 2023. While he thrived at High-A with the Peoria Chiefs with an ERA of 2.81, he has struggled, giving up many runs once promoted to the Double-A Springfield Cardinals with an ERA of 5.47.

In High-A, Hence threw 664 pitches, 422 of which were called strikes, meaning he threw a strike 63.55 percent of the time. But at Double-A, over 928 pitches, he has thrown a strike 60.52 percent of the time. This shows he has either not been finding the zone the best or he has been starting to get more hesitant to throw strikes.

He held a FIP of just 3.48 with an ERA of 2.81 with Peoria, but since joining Springfield, he has been pitching terribly with a FIP of 4.98 and ERA of 5.47. He has been throwing fewer strikes, leading to fewer strikeouts and more walks, as well as his pitches have been getting hit harder with a HR/9 Innings at a career-high of 1.33 and a BABIP of .338.

As the Cardinals search for pitching to rebuild the rotation for the future, Hence has work to do to ensure he's part of those plans.