6:00PM: Houston officially announced the selection of Hensley’s contract. In corresponding moves, first baseman J.J. Matijevic was optioned to Triple-A and left-hander Jonathan Bermudez was designated for assignment.
Bermudez was a 23rd-round pick for the Astros in the 2018 draft. The lefty reached Triple-A for the first time in 2021, but has badly struggled at the top minor league level this season, posting an 8.96 ERA over 67 1/3 innings, allowing 16 home runs.
2:30PM: The Astros are calling up utility player David Hensley, reports Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. Hensley is not currently on Houston’s 40-man roster, meaning a corresponding move of some kind will be required to open a spot for him.
Hensley, 26, has never been a highly-touted prospect, having been selected by the Astros in the 26th round of the 2018 draft. However, he has increased his stock immensely in the past two seasons. Last year, he played 105 games at Double-A, slashing .293/.369/.439, production that amounted to a wRC+ of 118, or 18% better than league average. This year, he’s taken another step forward, slashing .298/.420/.478 in 104 Triple-A games. He’s increased his walk rate to an incredible 17.2% after being at 10.3% last year.
Beyond his work at the plate, Hensley also brings defensive versatility, having played all four infield positions this year, in addition to a brief showing in left field. There’s also the speed element, as he stole 11 bags last year and 20 already this season. All told, he should bring a well-rounded game up to Houston. Baseball America recently ranked him the #11 prospect in the team’s system, which was the first time he cracked one of their top 30 lists.
The Astros placed Aledmys Diaz on the injured list earlier this week, which left Mauricio Dubon as the club’s primary utility player. However, Dubon appeared to injure himself during last night’s game, crashing into the outfield wall while attempting to make a catch. It’s unclear if Dubon will require a stint on the injured list, but it seems the club will add Hensley to the roster for support either way.
Blah blah blah trash can hur dur
Wa baby
Finally, though I wish the brought Seth Martinez back up too.
With the outfield injuries and Alvarez incident last night, I kind of thought that they might have been open to bringing Jake Marisnick back. He makes a lot of sense for them imho
The Astros may have cheated stealing signs, You see those Padres uniforms, that’s intentional, those color schemes are purposely used to distract a hitters focus, same for Boston with those bright yellow uniforms. They are wearing those ugly uniforms to distract opposing hitters, no other reason, can’t imagine any player comes to the park and is happy to be wearing the yellows or in the Padres case, the fruity pastels.
Astros need to bring back Jake Marisnick. He covers a lot of ground, speedy on the base paths and has occasional power. Also Astros fans loved him. The other Jake (Meyers) somehow has forgotten how to hit.
17% walk rate!? I’m interested to see what he can do.
Ya Patrick Henry ya!
I was kind of hoping for Lewis Brinson to give us a different option than Meyers. He also has a great line in AAA this year. But I see the need for Henson with Diaz out. Still if they can clear another 40 man spot, send Meyers down to work on his stroke and give Brinson some ABs.