Player Breakdowns: April 13th
Tink Hence, George Klassen, & Brett Wichrowski
Tink Hence (STL)- AA:
Tink Hence finally has his training wheels off. He threw 82 pitches and got through the 5th inning — for a second straight start! I’ll be honest — after the 1st inning, I thought it was going to be a short outing, but Hence put it all together in this one.
This is what I wrote about Hence in early March:
2022 proved to be the breakout party for Hence who features an electric fastball and good curveball. He was a 19-year-old in A ball who pitched 1.38 ERA / 1.59 FIP / 1.94 xFIP in 52.1 innings pitched. He posted an elite 13.93 K/9 paired with a solid 2.58 BB/9.
Command hasn’t been an issue with Hence but he did struggle to get results in AA as a 20-year-old. He’ll likely repeat the level this year and if he can get back on track this ranking is too low. Hence is a potential top-of-the-rotation arm and in 2024, he will get his K rate back up and maintain his BB rate, while pitching to better success at AA. The Tink Hence train will be rolling by mid-summer.
All the damage yesterday was done in the 1st inning, as he allowed a leadoff triple to Emmanuel Rodriguez and then an RBI double to Andrew Cossetti, which brought Rodriguez home for the only run given up by Hence on the day. He was tagged a bit there in the 1st, but he recovered nicely after the first inning. We’ll go over his stuff and results in a bit. Here are the Balls in Play:
Balls in Play during the 1st inning:
Whiffs & CS during the 1st inning:
Hence has a good fastball, yet he was relying on it too much in the first inning — that was the pitch they were sitting on and hitting hard. He still sat mid 90s with the pitch for most of the outing. It wasn’t until the 2nd inning that he started mixing in the slider, curve, and changeup and he was mixing them well.
He would start at-bats with breaking pitches and end them with his fastball, which made his arsenal more dangerous when he’s mixing like that. Mixing this. Mixing that. He retired 14 of the final 15 batters he faced in this one. And the only batter that got on base in that time was on an infield single which looked like a routine ground ball out. Here are his Whiffs & Called Strikes from the 2nd through the 5th:
Whiffs & CS from the 2nd through the 5th inning:
The Tink was absolutely cruising after the 1st inning and we saw just what it’s like when he’s in a groove. It was like watching Jazz personified — it was smooth and rhythmic, but instead of getting laid at the end of the joint, they were getting K’d.
The only hit allowed after the first inning:
Tink Hence threw 82 pitches and got through 5 innings for a second straight start. I repeat — Tink Hence got through 5 innings for a second straight start! It makes me happy. He generated 18 whiffs for a 43.9% whiff rate while his changeup generated a 100% whiff rate. Each secondary offering generated at least 5 whiffs. He had it all working. His final line was 5IP 3H 1ER 0BB 8K. Tink has an 11-1 K:BB to start the year. Don’t say I didn’t tell you so. We’re rolling.
I think Hence has one of the better potential arsenals mixed with pure stuff in the minors and I think people are going to be ready to hop on the Tink Hence train by mid-summer if they’re not already buying tickets to get on right now. Some things I’m going to be looking for going forward are improved command and some more pitch data (pitch shape on his fastball, spin on his breaking stuff). Other than that, I’m impressed with the outing and his start to the season.