Royals Rookie Catcher Carter Jensen Scratched From Lineup After Oversleeping

Like Love Haha Wow Sad Angry

by Sam LanierApril 4, 2026, 3:47 pm >

It has been a tough start to a career for Kansas City Royals rookie catcher Carter Jensen, who is still adjusting to the big league routine, and that includes setting multiple alarms. Jensen was scratched from the Royals’ series finale against American League Central rival Minnesota Twins on Thursday due to oversleeping.

This may not seem like a huge deal, but 36-year-old DH/catcher Salvador Perez was slated to be the designated hitter, but Jensen overslept, forcing Perez to get behind the dish, which isn’t easy on the veteran.

“No running from it,” the rookie catcher said. “Just didn’t wake up to my alarm. Slept through it. Don’t really have an excuse, nor should I. It sucks. Happens. I felt like I let my teammates down, coaches down. Just learn from it and know it won’t happen again.”

Jensen admitted that when he woke up, he was in full-on panic mode. “There’s a lot to learn from it. Making sure if I don’t set one alarm, maybe set three, four, as many as possible,” Jensen said. “Moving forward, that’s what I’m going to do. Set a million alarms. Make sure I’m up. It stinks, though.”

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!

A week of sports news in your in-box.
We find the sports news you need to know, so you don't have to.

Royals manager Matt Quatraro will not punish Jensen any further and spoke to the media about his young catcher.

“Overslept. Wasn’t here on time, and we made the decision to scratch him from the lineup.… He’s a stand-up guy, a really hard worker, a great kid. He feels terrible. He’s accountable to it. It’s not something that has been a pattern or any of that kind of stuff. Nobody feels worse than he does, and I think he’ll admit to that. And we’ll move on.”

The Royals sit at 3-3 through the first six games of the season and will welcome the Milwaukee Brewers this weekend.