Royals shouldn’t start Salvador Perez at catcher this year, says ex-MLB executive
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Keith Law says Jensen should be the Royals' primary catcher over Salvador Perez.
- Perez will turn 36 in May, hit 30 HR and 100 RBI, and had 0.4 bWAR.
- Quatraro expects Jensen to play but won't hand him the full-time job yet.
It’s only February, but Royals catcher Carter Jensen’s Rookie of the Year buzz is already strong.
The MLB Network’s Greg Amsinger said Jensen is his pick to win that award at season’s end. And the Athletic’s Keith Law, the former Blue Jays special assistant to the general manager, thinks Jensen could take home the hardware ... if the Royals play him over Salvador Perez.
Law wrote about the 20 rookies most likely to make an impact this season and Jensen is No. 1 on the list.
“Yes, Salvador Perez is still in K.C., and he caught 92 games last year for the Royals,” wrote Law, who was in the Blue Jays front office for four years. “He was also worth 0.4 bWAR/0.5 fWAR and will turn 36 in May. It’s time to turn this job over to Jensen, who shone in his big-league debut last year, hitting .300/.391/.550 and catching well in the 10 games where he played behind the dish.
“Jensen has a long history of getting on base, the power is real and he’s a strong defensive catcher. I understand the desire for loyalty, especially given Perez’s tie to the 2015 World Series winning team, but Jensen should be the Royals’ primary catcher this year, with Perez backing him up and maybe playing some first or DHing if there’s a need. Assuming the Royals go that route, Jensen will be a strong contender for Rookie of the Year.”
Perez hit 30 home runs with 35 doubles and 100 RBIs last season.
Royals manager Matt Quatraro talked about Jensen’s playing time earlier this month at Fan Fest. Quatraro wasn’t ready to hand the starting job to Jensen, the Park Hill High School graduate.
“They’ll probably compliment each other and DH, but I’m not going to say he’s going to get 600 plate appearances or something like that,” Quatraro said. “I mean, we’ll see how it plays out. We’re certainly optimistic about him, but we have a Hall of Fame catcher behind the plate, so we’re going to run him out there quite a bit.”
This story was originally published February 26, 2026 at 9:58 AM.
