A quartet of players in the St. Louis Cardinals farm system hit the midseason break in the Minor League Baseball season on a high note.
With Sunday’s games marking the end of the first half in the International League, the Memphis Redbirds beat Norfolk 9-0. After earning a split in the six-game series against Norfolk, Memphis finished the half of the International League with a 41-32 record, two games behind Nashville in the West Division and five games behind Jacksonville for first place overall.
Quinn Mathews, Jose Fermin Earn International League Weekly Honors
On Monday, Minor League Baseball announced that Memphis infielder José Fermín was named the International League Player of the Week, while Quinn Mathews earned International League Pitcher of the Week honors for June 17-22.
Fermin turned in a dominant week at the plate, batting .550 with a .583 on-base percentage and 1.050 slugging across five games against Norfolk. The right-handed hitter collected 11 hits, including six for extra bases — four doubles and two home runs.
For the season, Fermin ranks second in the International League in both on-base percentage (.432) and doubles (20), is fourth in OPS (.919), and sits 10th in stolen bases with 18. On Wednesday, Fermin was recalled by the Cardinals, and he got a single in a ninth inning at-bat that night against the Chicago Cubs.
Mathews earned International League Pitcher of the Week honors for the first time following a strong outing June 18 against Norfolk. The left-hander picked up his second win of the year with five scoreless innings, marking his first shutout appearance at Triple-A this season. He struck out six and allowed just two more hitters than the minimum.
Tink Hence, Joshua Baez Named Tops in Texas League
In Texas League action, the Springfield Cardinals won their last seven games and 12 of their last 13 to finish the first half 43-26 overall, winning the North division by six games and earning a spot in the 2025 playoffs.
Minor League Baseball announced on Monday that right-hander Tink Hence and outfielder Joshua Baez were recognized as the Texas League Pitcher and Player of the Week for the period of June 17–22.
The duo became the fourth and fifth Springfield Cardinals players to receive weekly honors this season, joining Max Rajcic (April 4–6), Brycen Mautz (April 14–20) and Leonardo Bernal (May 20–25). This marked the first time since May 15–21, 2017 that Springfield has swept both weekly Texas League awards, when Matt Pearce and Anthony Garcia were honored.
Returning from a rib cage strain that sidelined him since the end of Spring Training, Hence made his first appearance back with Springfield on June 20 and delivered a dominant outing. The Cardinals’ No. 3 prospect threw 4.1 hitless innings and struck out eight against Corpus Christi, helping to set the tone for the first nine-inning no-hitter in franchise history.
Hence combined with Zane Mills, Austin Love and Sean Harney to complete the milestone at Hammons Field — fittingly, on the one-year anniversary of the club’s only other no-hitter, a seven-inning game pitched by Cooper Hjerpe and Andrew Marrero on June 20, 2024, in Corpus Christi. The former 63rd overall draft pick was making just his sixth start of the season as he continues to increase his workload.
Baez also had a standout week at the plate, going 7-for-14 with a double, three home runs and 10 RBIs. A native of Boston, Baez launched two homers on Thursday, June 19, marking the second time he’s accomplished the feat at Double-A and third time overall this season.
Baez has bounced back in a big way in 2025, batting .319 over 58 combined games between High-A Peoria and Double-A Springfield. He’s totaled 10 home runs across both levels, just one shy of the career-best 11 he hit last year.