photo: Quinn Mathews (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
The upper two levels of the St. Louis Cardinals had a very good week. Double-A Springfield won its first-half division title as Joshua Baez and Tink Hence are the Texas League Player and Pitcher of the Week.
One level up, the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds are celebrating the Player and Pitcher of the Week for the International League, Jose Fermin and Quinn Mathews.
Springfield Cardinals release
Minor League Baseball announced on Monday (June 23) that RHP Tink Hence and OF Joshua Baez were named the Texas League Pitcher and Player of the Week, respectively, for the week of June 17 – 22, 2025. They are the fourth and fifth Springfield Cardinals to win weekly awards from MiLB this season, joining RHP Max Rajcic (April 4 – 6), LHP Brycen Mautz (April 14 – 20) and C Leonardo Bernal (May 20 – 25). This is the first time since May 15 – 21, 2017 that the Cardinals swept the Texas League weekly awards (RHP Matt Pearce and OF Anthony Garcia).
ABOUT TINK HENCE
Hence rejoined the Springfield club on Tuesday, working his way back from a rib cage strain he sustained at the end of Spring Training. The Cardinals third-ranked prospect tossed 4.1 shutout innings with eight strikeouts against the Corpus Christi Hooks on Friday, June 20. His hitless outing started the first nine-inning no-hitter in franchise history as he completed the feat with Zane Mills, Austin Love and Sean Harney at Hammons Field. It also occurred on the one year anniversary of the only other no-hitter in Cardinals history, a seven-inning affair in Corpus Christi on June 20, 2024 (Cooper Hjerpe and Andrew Marrero). The former 63rd overall pick was making just his sixth start of the season as he continues to build up his pitch count.
Hence spent all of 2024 with Springfield, where he became the second-ever Springfield Cardinal selected as the Texas League Pitcher of the Year, joining 2017’s Dakota Hudson. The righty made twenty starts for Springfield in 2024, setting a career-high in strikeouts with 109 across 79.1 innings pitched. He tossed seven quality starts while reaching six or more strikeouts in eight starts last season. He was the Texas League Pitcher of the Month in April 2014 and was selected to his second Future’s Game team (in addition to 2023).
ABOUT JOSHUA BAEZ
Baez enjoyed a huge week for the Cardinals, going 7-for-14 with a double, three home runs and ten RBIs. The Boston native swatted a pair of home runs on Thursday, June 19 for the second time while in Double-A and his third time overall in 2025. Baez has enjoyed a resurgence this season, where he’s hit a combined .319 in 58 games between High-A Peoria and Double-A Springfield. He’s hit ten home runs across the two levels, one shy of matching a career-high 11 hit in 2024.
The slugger has had an interesting career in the St. Louis system. With a second-round selection in 2021, he leaped to number seven on the Cardinals Top-30 Prospects List according to MLB Pipeline. After a hamate bone injury shortened his 2022 season, Baez fell off the Top-30 List. During his now award-winning week, he found himself ranked once more in an in-season update after Thomas Saggese accrued enough Major League time to graduate from the list. Baez currently sits as the number twelve-ranked prospect in the organization. He is set to turn 22 on Saturday, June 28.
Memphis Redbirds release
Memphis Redbirds infielder/outfielder Jose Fermin and left-handed pitcher Quinn Mathews earned International League Player and Pitcher of the Week Award honors, Minor League Baseball announced Monday.
Fermin posted a .550/.583/1.050 slash line in five games last week against Norfolk. Of the right-handed hitter’s 11 hits, six went for extra bases with four doubles and two home runs. On the season, Fermin ranks second in the International League in OBP (.432) and doubles (20), fourth in OPS (.919), and 10th in stolen bases (18).
Mathews took home his first International League Pitcher of the Week award with his standout performance on Wednesday afternoon against the Norfolk Tides. The left-handed pitcher earned his second win of the season with 5.0 shutout innings, his first scoreless start at Triple-A in 2025. Mathews struck out six batters and faced just two batters above the minimum.
TCN notes
In recent history, we cannot recall Cardinals sweeps of the top league awards at Triple-A and Double-A in the same week.
In the just-released June Cardinals Top 50 Prospect List update here at The Cardinal Nation, Mathews is ranked second, Hence sixth and Baez 13th.
TCN’s Monthly Cardinals Top 50 Prospect Rankings – June 2025
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