David Hensley at Fan Fest

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
We're along here from Astros fan festand a pleasure to catch up with this
guy. We talked with him lastyear and good to get him on once
again. He is David Hensley,and man, it's it's it always seems
to get colder and colder at thesefan fasts every hour. The man I'm
doing them well, man, tryingto stay warm. First event outside,
so oh yeah, yeah, it'suh, look, Houston's crazy. It's

(00:21):
like eighty one day and then twentythe next, so the temperature changed very
quickly. As we look ahead tothe upcoming season, obviously less than a
month away, you guys will beover at spring training in Florida. I
remember talking with you last year comingoff the World Series win. You know,
you had high expectations for last yearand playing a role on this team.

(00:43):
Obviously things didn't know how you wantedto. But yeah, what did
you take away from last year andthat you're carrying over into this offseason?
You know, man, I learneda lot. I learned a lot about
myself, learn a lot about thegame. I mean it's tough to come
off such a high and then experiencesuch a I'm gonna say drastic season for
myself like up and down, nothaving success offensively and ultimately just sitting there

(01:07):
and failing time after time again,and you learn a lot about yourself.
You have some good days, youhave some bad days, and then you
look back and say, wow,that really just happened. And so to
look back on it, I thinkit was good. I mean I never
really had a season before that whereI struggled so much, and so to
be able to come off with somethinglike that and going to an offseason and

(01:29):
have something that I need to workon and have some goals that I want
to set for myself, it's humbling, and I'm actually excited to get back
out there and do it again.It's it's interesting because there was a role
to fill there. You know thatthe starting positions are kind of figured out,
and look, when you're join aWorld Series caliber team, you know,
it's it's hard to find a spot. You know, you're on a

(01:49):
bad team, obviously it's a loteasier to find playing time, but there
are still roles here. I mean, we saw Mauricio play a big role
last year. We've seen guys comeup and find their opportunities, and there's
always a DH spot as well.So is it kind of with you kind
of figuring out at least position wise, keeping that versatility going where you can
play multiple positions. I mean,things haven't changed. I'm still working in

(02:10):
all the infield spots, trying toget some reps in the outfield as well,
just trying to play a role.Like you said, I think the
big thing for me is just beingable to be consistent offensively. I got
to the major leagues by being ableto hit and being able to get on
base, and so to be ableto stay is that's what I gotta do.
What's an off season like after yougo through a year like that,
I mean, is it you wantto jump right back into it, or

(02:32):
is it hey, take a stepback, you know, take both a
physical breath but also kind of onefor the mind as well, just to
kind of try to reset and getback into getting that work towards getting the
results you want. Yeah, Imean I was mentally drained after the year,
Like I said, I know,I had a year where it was

(02:53):
so tough for me physically and mentally, and coming off and actually getting some
time to I went home for alittle bit. I haven't been home in
a few years. Years and wentback to California and just decompressed for a
little bit, let the mind clear, and then built up some expectations that
I wanted to do for myself.And when I got the opportunity, I
came back out here to Houston andstarted rolling. So what does the decompression

(03:14):
look like? What do we isit? Golf? Beach time is it?
What are we waiting at? Ididn't play a lot of golf this
offseason. Uh, getting pretty good. Okay, it's a it's a little
hobby of mine. I've been playingfor a while. I like it.
Yeah, Man, going to thebeach, seeing the family. I haven't
seen my family and got to spendtime with them like that. And in

(03:34):
a few years, like I said, and so just going home seeing my
nieces and nephews, grandparents, family, mom, Dad's gonna spend time and
just get away from the game,get away from everything for a little bit.
Yeah. And you mentioned changing DavidHeinsley with us here from Astros fan
Fest. You mentioned a goals andexpectations. What kind of things I had?
Do you have in mind or haveyou said as far as those types

(03:55):
of things. I mean, Ihaven't really set any numbers, things or
any any expectations that that way.I have more personal expectations of what I
expect myself to to put in workeach day and just kind of go about
it a different way. Like Isaid, I learned a lot from this
past year. And so I meanplaying in the Major League it's not easy,

(04:17):
and showing up to the ball fieldevery day, it's not easy to
sit there and keep in mind inthings when things aren't going right. And
so I got a better outlook onwhat I want to do and who I
want to be as a person,as a teammate, and just looking forward
to getting the opportunity. You're aSan Diego and a guy that is now
going to be a teammate of yoursplayed in San Diego. So two parterre

(04:39):
here, Where were you when youheard the news? And how many of
your family from San Diego said,Oh, you got him? I was
working caravan yesterday, so I foundout on the way we're on our way
back from San Antonio. I gota lot of people that I know who
are Padres fans, being from SanDiego, and so as soon as the

(05:00):
news broke, I got a lotof friends close people that I grew up
with all reaching out and congratulating usfor a signus's. I mean, Hayter's
a good picture. He's a biglefty for the bullpen, and obviously he's
had some good, good years inhis career, and it's gonna be awesome
to have him on our side.I don't want to face him. That
seems to be the constant of guyssitting in your seat. They say,

(05:21):
hey, I don't have to facehim anymore. Yeah, talking about David
David Hensley here, and it's it'sit's fun with this organization and and really
insured Land too, keep keeping continuitywith a lot of the same coaching staff
and that sort of thing. AndDusty Baker obviously walks away this offseason.
The legend that he is helped bringa world series here. I know he

(05:41):
you know, was in your fightingcorner a lot of different times. But
to go to Joe Spota, theguy who was already here and on the
staff, it's got to be alittle bit easier than bringing in somebody completely
new from the outside, because Joeknows everybody already exactly. Yeah, I
mean shout out to Dessy, Likeyou said, DESSI was one of the
main reasons I got to the bigleagues, why I had the opportunities I
did. So got much love forhim. Uh, Like you said,

(06:03):
Joe's been around, Joe knows whatwe can do. He knows all the
guys in the clubhouse, and weall know him, and so it's not
it's not too too tough of atransition, you know. Uh, Joe's
out there working with us every daylast year, and now he gets to
sit there and actually make decisions.It's it's a lot easier to have someone
come in like that than, likeyou said, off the off the street

(06:24):
or somewhere else. I think itwas gonna be a few more outbursts.
He's already said. He's like,I've got the Latin blood. I'm gonna
get in. I'm probably gonna getejected a couple of times. But I
love that about Joe. Yeah,I mean, Joe's fire. He's got
some good passion for the game,and it's awesome to have him as our
miniager. As long as he canafford the fines, right, I'm sure
he'll be all right. Talking withDavid Hensley here from Astros fan Fest,

(06:45):
and uh, as you look backto to last year. You talked about
it, but I mean, isit is it when you look back at
film? I mean, was theresomething off with your mechanics? Obviously you
said the mental part of it.But they're a little tweaks in here because
we we've talked to Bregman before.He's had the times where there was this
weird thing I was doing my footor it was a weird thing I was
doing with my hands. And Idid even go back to a guy like
Jake Myers. He went through kindof the same thing two years ago.

(07:09):
So this happens. But yeah,was there something you saw on film or
was it just all mostly mental?I mean, obviously I wasn't taking the
best swings when I was up there. I think a lot of it has
to do with the preparation and keepinga consistent routine so you can keep your
same swing. Every year. Beforethis, I played every day, and

(07:29):
so you get opportunities to have repsand reps and reps and game reps,
and then you get into a rhythmand you get to write it out.
Last year was the first year thatI would sit the bench for five,
six, seven days at a time, and being young and not understanding what
you have to do to keep consistentwith your routine is people talk about it
all the time, have a routine, have a routine, but until you

(07:50):
actually understand what it is to havea routine that you you come to every
day and it's the reason it makesyou who you are, you know.
And so that was something that Ididn't know how to do last year.
And talking to some of the olderguys and stuff, they they really appreciated
on me that you got to havea routine. You gotta stay consistent with
your routtine so you can stay consistentwhen you're not getting those game reps.

(08:13):
And I think that's something that Ilearned, Like I said, I learned
a lot and something I'm going tofocus on this year. For sure.
There's a saying in baseball that's baseball, I mean, you know, I
mean, and that mostly is talkingabout when it's not the four for four
days, it's the zero for foursand things like that, and when you
go through those after the fact,I mean, is there kind of an
appreciation of knowing like, hey,that's part of the game too, Like

(08:35):
I've got to be able to weatherthat. Yeah, I mean, baseball
is a tough game. It's agame of failure. Everybody knows that.
And so to be able to goout there and have a four for four
day every day, that's that's unrealistic. So you got to take your goods
with your bads and your badge,dear goods, and you got to ride
the roller coaster. Man. Atleast when it's baseball, you can just
say, oh, well, youknow what, man, you just had
too good of stuff. When it'sgolf, it's like the ball didn't move.

(08:56):
It's yeah, no doubt, nodoubt. The ownership, yeah,
the ownership is a little bit different, he is David Hensley. David,
we're looking forward to seeing you downat spring training. Uh, looking forward
to get this thing going and lookingforward to seeing what twenty twenty four holds
for you. Man. I mean, look, you got the World Series
ring, you got the hardest partout of the way. Now it's about
now, it's about building for thefuture and finding that role. Yeah,

(09:16):
man, trying to be consistent,like I said, trying to have a
better year than the one before.Oh, we love it. We're rooting
for you. He is David Hensley. We'll bring you more here from Astros
fan Fest as we continue on rightafter this