Carter Jensen made a rookie mistake. Royals say they believe he’ll learn from it
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Carter Jensen overslept, missed scheduled start, and was scratched from lineup.
- Royals manager Matt Quatraro cited the oversight and enforced immediate discipline.
- Jensen accepted responsibility, appeared late in ninth, and pledged to learn.
Kansas City Royals catcher Carter Jensen took ownership for a critical mistake after Thursday’s game against the Minnesota Twins — a mistake that occurred before the game began.
Jensen overslept and was late to Kauffman Stadium. He had initially been in the Royals’ starting lineup, but he was scratched minutes before first pitch.
“Yeah, Carter had an oversight,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “Overslept and wasn’t here on time. And we made the decision to scratch him from the lineup.”
The Royals lost 5-1 to the Twins. Jensen did make an appearance — catching in the ninth inning — but he didn’t get an at-bat.
Afterward, Jensen expressed remorse for his actions.
“Yeah, I mean, no running from it,” he said. “Just didn’t wake up to my alarm, slept through it. Don’t really have an excuse, nor should I. You know, it sucks and it happens. I felt let my teammates down and coaches down. I’ll just learn from it and know it won’t happen again.”
Before his late arrival, the Royals had Jensen slated to catch starter Cole Ragans. He was going to bat fifth in the lineup. Fellow KC catcher Salvador Perez — who caught Wednesday’s late-night marathon — was going to be Thursday’s designated hitter.
“Not a good feeling, for sure,” Jensen said. “You know, just wake up and full panic. Just tried to get out of the house and get here as soon as possible.”
Jensen extended his apologies to teammates and the Royals’ coaching staff once he got to the stadium. He went up to each individually, upset with himself and vowing to not make the same mistake again.
“It was tough just kind of owning up to it and apologizing to guys as I see them,” Jensen said. “Obviously, I knew I wasn’t going to play. And I just tried to let the starters get their routine ... and try not to make it about me, because at the end of the day, it’s not about me. It’s my mistake ...”
The Royals have lauded Jensen’s work ethic already this season. He has shown a commitment to learning and growing and teammates have been impressed with his leadership skills at such a young age.
Several of those teammates said Jensen’s tardiness Thursday won’t affect how they view him.
“First and foremost, we are glad that Carter is OK, right?” first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino said. “I mean, that was kind of the initial thought, when you are trying to get ahold of his parents and everything like that just to make sure he is OK. But once you find out he’s OK, it’s like, ‘Alright, it’s a growing moment.’
“He’s really young and there are some things that cannot happen, and that’s one of them. So he’s going to have to wear it on the chin, the same way anybody would have to.”
Pasquantino said he knows Jensen feels “really bad” about the situation.
“I know it was not his favorite drive to the field this morning,” Pasquantino said, “but it wasn’t our favorite morning either, trying to figure out what was going on. So, you know, he’ll learn from it and grow up a little bit. ... It’s not like anyone is mad at him. Things happen, but you’ve got to learn from mistakes like that, and maybe get another alarm clock or something at home.”
Jensen seems to have received the message loud and clear. He said he would recalibrate his wake-up routine.
“There’s a lot to learn from,” Jensen said. “And I think it’s just, you know, making sure if I don’t set one alarm, maybe set three or four — as many as possible. So moving forward, that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to set a million alarms to make sure I’m up.”
