MLB WORLD SERIES: PHILLIES VS ASTROS

October 31, 2022

David Hensley

Citizens Bank Park

Houston Astros

Pregame 3 Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with questions for David Hensley.

Q. What's it like to see your name in a starting lineup for the World Series?

DAVID HENSLEY: It's hard to put into words, to be honest. It's exciting for sure, surreal. Not too much to say about it right now.

Q. Can you take us through just what you've done just to stay ready not getting as much playing time as you have when you were coming through the minor leagues and even when you got called up to the big club?

DAVID HENSLEY: Just preparing the same way every day, showing up to the field with the same attitude and taking my reps the same way I would as if I was playing. Yeah, pretty much just going about each day the same, trying to stay ready.

Q. The organization likes your pitch selection and your plate discipline. What do you attribute being good at both of those to? You've been pretty good at that your entire minor league career.

DAVID HENSLEY: That was something that was brought up early in my career. Some of the front office let me know that that was something that I needed to focus on. Ultimately, this year in Triple-A when we were introduced to the ABS system, I think it helped out a lot being able to have a disciplined approach to the plate and actually have a definitive line of what was a strike and what was not.

And just through repetition you just get better and better at seeing pitches and become comfortable out there and give yourself an opportunity to swing at strikes.

Q. What do you guys expect from the Philly crowd tonight? What kind of atmosphere do you expect? I see a little smile there. What have your veteran teammates kind of told you about handling some of that?

DAVID HENSLEY: We haven't looked into it too much. We know Philly's a good town for sports, for sure. I hope they bring the energy, man, it's fun. You want to go out there, you want to have a loud crowd, you want to be excited by what's going on at the ballpark. I know they're going to bring some fire, so it should be exciting.

Q. What have your impressions of Dusty been and what makes him a type of manager that's capable of winning 2,000 games, being top 10 all-time wins?

DAVID HENSLEY: Dusty's awesome, man. I got introduced to Dusty in spring training this year, treated me with respect, treated him with respect. It was a very open communication from the beginning. Ultimately, getting the opportunity to come up here and play for him, it's awesome. He's been around the game for a long time. He knows what's going on, and he has a way of going about things. It's fun to learn and see how he goes about it. Fun to play for him, for sure.

Q. If you sit back and look at things, it wasn't that long ago you were playing in Sugar Land and now you're sitting here at a press conference at the World Series. What do you think about all that?

DAVID HENSLEY: Like I said earlier, man, it's exciting, it's surreal. It's been going by real fast, to be honest. The days are kind of rolling through each other. I think after the season's over, I'll have a better opportunity to sit back and actually take a look at everything that's gone on, but right now I'm just focused on trying to be the best player I can be and ultimately try and help this team win a championship.

Q. In the time you were up with Houston after Sugar Land, what noticeable differences did you perceive between minor league and Major League Baseball?

DAVID HENSLEY: Just the crispness of the game. You got guys still down in Triple-A trying to develop, trying to work on things, where when you get up here, you got a lot of guys who know what they're doing and have certain ways about going about their days and going about the way they play the game.

It's a focused mindset, man. It's a culture that you have to buy into and get behind and start finding your role. I think in the minor leagues, I don't think there's as much of a role as it is trying to become the best player and learn who you are as a player, and once you get up here, you kind of start to understand what you have to do to be an addition to the team.

It's been a jump, but these guys are awesome in the clubhouse. They made it really comfortable for me coming up. When I got here it's taken, I've taken my time to learn about what I need to do and how I need to be prepared and when to be ready.