David

Hensley

Hensley is now off the 40-man roster. The 28-year-old provides the ability to play in the infield and outfield, but doesn’t hit enough to be more than organizational fodder.

With Vidal Bruján and Derek Hill coming off the IL, there was no room for Hensley on the active roster. The 28-year-old has hit .212/.293/.288 in 23 games for the Marlins with one home run, one steal, and a 29.3 percent strikeout rate.

Bruján will return to the team after being placed on the IL on August 31st with an AC joint sprain; however, with how well Otto Lopez has been playing, Bruján could very well return to a bench role. David Hensley was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move.

That’s now twice the Marlins have sat Edwards against a left-handed starting pitcher. Fantasy managers should hope that’s not going to be a consistent trend because the Nationals are starting only left-handed pitchers in this series. Javier Sanoja will start at second base and bat ninth. Griffin Conine will also head to the bench with David Hensley starting in right field and batting seventh.

The 26-year-old was removed from Tuesday’s game with a back spasm, and then the Marlins faced two straight left-handed pitchers, so it was a good time to let him heal up. As of now, we expect that Sánchez will return to the lineup for the final three games against right-handed pitching, but we’ll have to wait another day to find out. With Griffin Conine also sitting against a lefty, it will be David Hensley batting sixth and playing right field and Christian Pache batting eighth and playing center field.

Sánchez singled off veteran lefty in the second inning before suffering an apparent injury while stealing second base a couple pitches later. He was replaced by pinch-runner David Hensley. There should be an additional update on his status shortly.

The 28-year-old infielder had been designated for assignment by the Astros last week after appearing in 81 games for Triple-A Sugar Land where he posted a .234/.352/.376 slashline. However, he was tied for the team lead with 54 walks while ranking second with 20 doubles. He also played 25 games at third base, 22 games at first base, 21 games at left field, and six games at right field, showcasing some serious defensive versatility. It’s possible that he could earn a call-up and work his way into the mix in Miami before the 2024 season is through, but he’ll probably start out his Marlins’ career as depth at Triple-A Jacksonville.

It’s rather surprising that Hensley lasted as long on the 40-man as he did, given how he disappointed in both Triple-A and the majors last season. The 28-year-old has hit .177//273/.274 in 128 career plate appearances for the Astros. He hasn’t played in the majors this season, and he’s currently hitting .234/.351/.375 for Triple-A Sugar Land.

It looks like Cabbage lost one of the bench battles during spring camp. The 26-year-old could not find consistency at the plate and as a result went 4-for-36 (.111 AVG) with 17 strikeouts. Strikeouts remain to be a issue for Cabbage as he struck out 46% of the time in his 56 plate appearances with the Angels last season.

Hensley’s double had a 110.3-mph exit velocity, which is 3.3 mph higher that he’s ever done in 113 at-bats as a major leaguer. He also came in at 104.5 mph on his single. 2023 was pretty much a lost year for Hensley, as he hit just .119 in 94 plate appearances in the majors and finished with a .721 OPS in Triple-A that was 178 points lower than his mark in 2022. Fortunately for him, the Astros didn’t invest in their bench in the offseason, leaving him very much in the running for a spot. He’ll definitely get one if he keeps hitting like this.