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Of the lessons Cardinals prospect Tink Hence came away with following an injury-limited second half to his 2024 season, it’s how the right-hander performed while working through setbacks that stands out to him above all else.

Amid a season in which he was limited to 79â…” innings because of back and lat discomfort, Hence maintained a 2.71 ERA, struck out 109 batters and allowed 1.07 walks plus hits per inning pitched across 20 outings for Class AA Springfield (Missouri). The results earned him Texas League pitcher of the year honors. They provided him a glimpse of the pitcher he could be and emphasized what could be the next box to check in his development.

“The best (lesson) I can take from it was that I was able to go out and compete without my best stuff or without feeling my best,� Hence, 22, said at Busch Stadium during the Cardinals’ recent Winter Warm-Up event. “I was able to get through it other than just lay over and just sit down. I had a pretty good year despite the injuries. It’s just the main focus is trying to stay up there for a full season.�

The upcoming season will mark Hence’s fifth season of minor league baseball. He comes into it as Baseball America’s No. 68 prospect, the Cardinals’ top right-handed pitching prospect, and with a different feel for his timeline to reach the majors.

Hence, who ended 2023 with a 5.47 ERA and 1.51 WHIP across 12 Class AA starts, was one of four Cardinals prospects added to the club’s 40-man roster in November — a move that protected Hence from December’s Rule 5 draft.

He described the feeling of having a spot on the 40-man roster as being “one call away from making your dream come true.� His third opportunity in big league spring training could offer a springboard for how soon that call could come.

“I know this year I have a better chance of sticking around and really showing what I can do,� said Hence, who began the 2023 and 2024 springs as a non-roster invitee to Cardinals camp. “I’m just going to take advantage of my opportunity once again, and hopefully everything works out the way I want it to.�

Looking back at the stretches in which he felt he didn’t have his “best stuff,� Hence believes he has made strides with his curveball and slider, the latter of which had a different bite to it in 2024.

He started last season with a gyro slider, that being a slider with more velocity and a harder break, as opposed to the more slurve-like slider from years prior. To get there, Hence tinkered with his slider grip during spring training with help from Cardinals pitching coach Dusty Blake. They found a slider grip that felt fine, but it was a talk with reliever Keynan Middleton shortly after his work with Blake that helped Hence find the right feel for the breaking pitch.

Hence took the advice from Middleton. Once he had a chance to throw the mid-80s mph breaking pitch to live hitters, the righty saw how the tighter, sharper slider would mix with the rest of his repertoire, which includes a fastball that ranges from 93 to 95 mph, a change-up that can reach 84 mph and a curveball in the lower 80s.

“Once we got with the hitters, I could tell the difference whenever I threw it (the slider) the right way. It was a tough pitch for the hitters to get a hold of,� said Hence, whose slider helped him post a 34.1% strikeout rate last year after posting a 24.5% strikeout rate in 2023.

Hence described the back and lat injuries as preventing him from “getting extended� with his mechanics. He felt at times he was “shortening or cutting� himself off, which led to added stress to his body that built up as he began pitching deeper into games through the first two months of the season.

He logged 51â…” innings through his first 10 starts, but the injuries kept him to three innings across two starts in June before he was out for nearly a month. Upon his return, Hence totaled 25 innings in eight starts as he rebuilt his workload from one outing to the next. He threw 1â…“ innings in his final start of the year, on Sept. 11, before exiting prematurely because of injury.

In the eight starts following his return, Hence sported a 1.44 ERA, struck out 37 batters over 25 innings and kept opposing hitters to a .165 batting average.

“It was just kind of a lot to take on, but I made it through, and I’m just ready to move forward,� Hence said.

He has used the winter to correct the mechanical issues he worked through in 2024. He said he won’t have any limitations to begin spring training this year.

In each of his previous two minor league seasons following gradual buildups in 2021 and 2022, he tossed a career-high 96 innings in the 2023 regular season, one in which Hence missed nearly a month because of tightness in the muscles around his chest and neck, and added another 3â…” innings in one start made in the Texas League postseason.

He said he doesn’t have a set number of innings he hopes to reach this year but rather has kept the mindset of competing at his best for a full season.

“There is always motivation,� Hence said. “Every year I come in, I think I put a chip on my shoulder to go do what most people think I can’t do or say I can’t do. It’s always good to have something to go chase and something to work for. I think it’s just that extra pep in your step to go and just prove yourself right, that you can do it, and that you believe in yourself, and that you’re ready.�