Kansas City Royals rookie Carter Jensen had quite a day April 2.
The 22-year-old was scheduled to catch the Royals’ game against the Minnesota Twins. Just one problem: he overslept.
The Royals benched Jensen and inserted veteran Salvador Perez at catcher instead. A consensus top-50 prospect in MLB, Carter has played only 26 big league games to this point in his career.
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Jensen owned up to his rookie mistake after the game. Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino described the impact Jensen’s mistake had on the team behind the scenes.
Here’s Vinnie Pasquantino on it: “You got a 36-year-old catcher who’s preparing to DH today, and his world gets a little rocked that an hour and a half before the game, he’s not going to be DH’ing. Give credit to Salvy today for being ready. First and foremost, I’m glad Carter’s…
— Sam McDowell (@SamMcDowell11) April 2, 2026
“You got a 36-year-old catcher (Perez) who’s preparing to DH today, and his world gets a little rocked that an hour and a half before the game, he’s not going to be DH’ing,” Pasquantino told Sam McDowell of the Kansas City Star. “Give credit to Salvy today for being ready. First and foremost, I’m glad Carter’s OK. I mean that was kind of the initial thought when you’re trying to get a hold of his parents and everything like that — just make sure he’s OK.
“But once you find out he’s OK, all right, it’s a growing moment. He’s really young.”
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The Royals lost to the Twins, 5-1.
“I didn’t wake up to my alarm,” Jensen said. “Slept through it. Don’t really have an excuse — nor should I. It sucks. It happens. I feel like I let teammates down, coaches down. Just learn from it and just know it won’t happen again.”
Carter Jensen was scratched due to what Matt Quatraro said was an “oversight.” He overslept. He came in to catch the 9th after Salvy was pinch run for in the bottom of the 8th.
— Joel Goldberg (@goldbergkc) April 2, 2026
Royals manager Matt Quatraro inserted Jensen as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning, giving the young catcher plenty of time to perk up for the game.
“There are some things that cannot happen, and that’s one of them,” Pasquantino said, via McDowell. “So he’s gonna have to wear it on the chin — same way anybody would have to. It can’t happen, and hopefully it doesn’t happen again. But it’s one of those things that you just can’t afford mistakes like that in this game. Just gotta move forward the best that he can. I know he feels really bad.”
