Hometown kid Jensen shows his potential with first two MLB homers

KANSAS CITY -- On a night in which Cal Raleigh made history with two powerful swings and Salvador Perez was honored by the Royals’ faithful for hitting his 300th career home run over the weekend, Carter Jensen made sure he wasn’t the catcher left behind.

The Royals’ backstop went 3-for-4 on Tuesday night with not only his first career home run, but also his second, providing most of the offense in Kansas City’s 12-5 loss to Seattle at Kauffman Stadium. Jensen’s 10 total bases matched Raleigh’s on Tuesday and fell one shy of the Royals record by a catcher, set by Perez on Aug. 28, 2013.

“It’s sweet in the moment,” Jensen said. “During that game, I couldn’t let that feeling linger and just coast the rest of the game. I had to try to do everything I could both offensively and defensively, because we were trying to make a comeback.”

The Royals began this week’s final homestand desperately clinging onto the hope that they could make a last playoff push, despite the odds against them. An emphatic rout by the Mariners, who have won 10 games in a row, pushed Kansas City farther down in the American League Wild Card standings to 7 games back.

“We expect a lot more of ourselves, but they beat us up pretty good tonight,” manager Matt Quatraro said.

There are still 11 games left in 2025, a season in which the Royals would like to finish strong despite the sputtering ending. There is work to be done in the offseason, both internally and externally with the roster. But the Royals continue to believe that they have the core players to have winning expectations in ‘26.

Jensen is showing he could be one of them.

The Royals called up their No. 2 prospect -- and MLB’s No. 66 -- in September because club officials thought the best thing for Jensen’s development was to add him to a roster fighting for a playoff spot and surround himself with the experience of Perez and backup catcher Luke Maile.

The callup was a dream come true for Jensen, a Kansas City native who grew up a Royals fan and modeled his game after Perez.

It took the Royals some time to put Jensen behind the plate for a start, wanting him to get fully comfortable with the pitching staff and observe Perez and Maile first. It finally came on Sunday, when Jensen caught Noah Cameron’s seven-inning gem against the Phillies. With Perez dealing with minor hamstring soreness, Quatraro put Jensen behind the plate again Tuesday.

This one was a little more difficult, with starter Michael Wacha struggling in his first start since Sept. 5 after a week on the seven-day concussion injured list. Wacha allowed seven runs in just 2 2/3 innings and was pulled after 42 pitches, while the Royals' bullpen did not fare much better the rest of the way.

Jensen did what he could to pull the Royals back. After striking out with two runners on base in the second, Jensen adjusted in the fourth against Mariners starter Logan Gilbert.

“I was pumped up, and I got a little too aggressive,” Jensen said of the first at-bat. “I chased pitches that weren’t in my zone. … I knew going into the second at-bat that I had to buckle down and be a little bit more patient, see the ball a little bit deeper.”

The Mariners went to their bullpen with Jensen due up in the sixth. He took reliever Carlos Vargas deep for a two-run pull shot into the right-field seats. In the eighth, Jensen smoked a double to the right-center wall.

The swing to all fields is exactly why the Royals believe Jensen is a key part of their future lineup.

Exactly how Jensen figures into the plan, behind the plate and in the lineup, is something to monitor in the offseason and next spring.

Perez, 35, will be back in 2026, either on the $13.5 million club option the Royals are expected to pick up or a reworked contract. It was clear yet again what Perez means to the city with the ovation the crowd gave him Tuesday night before he stepped to the plate in the second inning, celebrating his 300th career homer he hit over the weekend.

“Trading Freddy [Fermin], for me, is a pretty good indication of where Salvy’s going to be next year,” general manager J.J. Picollo said. “There are some things we've got to work through. But I think it's pretty safe to say Salvy is going to be a Royal.”

A catching tandem of Perez and Jensen is hard not to get excited about in Kansas City.

“He’s an absolute stud,” Wacha said of Jensen. “... He’s going to be a big-time player, for sure. You saw the bat tonight.”