Photo Courtesy of PJ Maigi | Springfield Cardinals
Hancel Rincon spent the winter months tinkering with his changeup.
Signed by the Cardinals as a teenager from the Dominican Republic in 2019, Rincon, 23, led all qualified Minor League pitchers with a 0.97 WHIP in 2023 and went 9-7 with a 3.80 ERA and 105 strikeouts in 24 starts with Palm Beach and Peoria last season. Training with Jhoniel Serrano, a prospect in the Marlins system, Rincon started gripping his changeup around the stitches.
“It took some trial and error during the offseason and beginning of the season but so far so good with that new grip,” he said on a Zoom call with reporters from Texas, where he’ll pitch this weekend for a red-hot Springfield club that has won 8-of-9 games in July, including the first three of the series against Corpus Christi.
Hancel Rincon had it all working tonight. 6.0 IP, H, ER, 3 BB, 11 K. That marks a new career-high in strikeouts. pic.twitter.com/419XfmUzS2
— Springfield Cardinals (@Sgf_Cardinals) June 23, 2025
Speaking of red-hot, that aptly describes Rincon since he arrived in Double-A to fill the rotation spot vacated by Tekoah Roby’s recent promotion to Memphis. Rincon went 2-1 with a 3.42 ERA and 1.14 WHIP while recording 37 strikeouts in 26.1 innings – numbers dazzling enough to earn Minor League Pitcher of the Month honors for the Cardinals in June. Rincon dominated Corpus Christi last week at Hammons Field; he picked up the win in the Cards’ 3-1 victory, ringing up 11 Ks in six innings.
“It’s the same baseball; it’s the same mindset going into it. I just keep my focus on remaining the same way I’ve always been, which is attacking batters every time I go out there,” he said. “Doing all the ordinary or small things – off-field work, being able to do all my pregame routine in the gym. That’s helped me with this recent run of success – and I’ve also seen an increase in my fastball velocity.”
Rincon is a step closer to the big leagues but also another step further from home. At a baseball academy in the Dominican Republic, instructors moved a young Rincon from his shortstop position because they feared he’d be too short to play there (he’s now 6-foot-2). He was hesitant to move to the pitcher’s mound, but by age 10 he discovered he had a natural command of the strike zone. Rincon made 14 appearances in the Dominican Summer League in 2019 when he was 17 years old, then lost the 2020 season to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo Courtesy of PJ Maigi | Springfield Cardinals
“I saw 2020 as a benefit because it gave me the opportunity to practice everything for an entire year. When I first started my pro career, and when I got here Stateside, I wasn’t throwing as hard as I threw when I came back from the Pandemic, so (the break) gave me the opportunity to increase my (fastball) velo.”
Larry Day, the Cardinals Director of Player Development noted in a press release that Rincon is throwing off-speed pitches for strikes early in counts and he mixes in a slider with his fastball and changeup.
“Hancel has been outstanding all season. The solid, dynamic foundation he’s built with his pitching team—through his throwing program and bullpen routines—has been a major factor in his success,” Day said.
