Cardinals Make Decision On No. 3 Prospect's Roster Status

The St. Louis Cardinals already have had to make some tough decisions and made one on Friday.

Spring Training is in full swing and now Opening Day is just about three weeks away. It's been fun seeing some of the the Cardinals' top prospects get a shot with the big league roster over the last few weeks but now we are at the point in camp in which clubs start to trim down rosters.

The Cardinals did this on Friday by sending No. 3 prospect Tink Hence down to the minor leagues, as shared by the team.

"RHP Tink Hence has been optioned to Springfield (AA)," the Cardinals announced. "Our Major League camp roster now stands at 56 players."

This isn't too shocking, but MLB.com currently is projecting Hence to make the jump to the big leagues in 2025. He's currently ranked as the team's No. 3 prospect behind JJ Wetherholt and Quinn Matthews. Hence is just 22 years old and had a 4.31 ERA last year across 23 starts in High-A and Double-A.

He made two appearances with the Cardinals' big league club in Spring Training. His first one wasn't great and he allowed six earned runs in 1 1/3 innings pitched. He was better in his second outing against the New York Mets and didn't allow a run across two innings pitched.

We're going to see him in St. Louis at some point soon whether it's 2025 or 2026 but it obviously won't be Opening Day this year.