Kansas City Royals catcher Carter Jensen was unexpectedly taken out of the starting lineup on Thursday for an incredibly human reason: He overslept.
Jensen was set to start against the Minnesota Twins, giving veteran catcher Salvador Perez a break. But Jensen was late after sleeping through his alarm, leaving manager Matt Quatraro with no choice but scratch Jensen late and put Perez back behind the plate.
“Carter had an oversight,” Quatraro said after the Royals’ 5-1 loss to the Twins, via MLB.com. “Overslept. Wasn’t here on time, and we made the decision to scratch him from the lineup.”
Quatraro clarified that this was a rare instance for the 22-year-old catcher.
“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,” he added.
Jensen ended up stepping in as catcher in the top of the ninth inning, giving Perez a breather. Minnesota hit three solo homers in that inning to take the 5-1 lead.
Postgame, Jensen was up front about his mistake.
“No running from it,” Jensen told reporters, via MLB.com. “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.”
Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino said postgame that the team was initially worried that something had happened to Jensen, but that he hoped that the young catcher would learn from the situation.
“Once you find out he’s okay it’s like, alright, it’s a growing moment. He’s really young. There are some things that cannot happen and that’s one of them. He’s going to have to wear it on the chin, same way anybody would have to. It can’t happen. And hopefully, it doesn’t happen again,” Pasquantino said, via KSHB’s McKenzie Nelson. “I know he feels really bad. I know that it was not his favorite drive to the field this morning, but it wasn’t our favorite morning, either, trying to figure out what was going on. He’ll learn from it. Grow up a little bit.
“We’re here for him, though. It’s not like anybody’s mad at him,” he continued. “But you got to learn from mistakes like that, and maybe get another alarm clock or something.”
Pasquantino pointed out that Perez, who was supposed to just be the designated hitter before Jensen was scratched, was able to step in as a catcher despite having “his world gets a little rocked” an hour and a half before the game.
“Credit to Salvy today for being ready,” Pasquantino said.
Jensen seemed to agree with Pasquantino’s advice, saying that he would learn his lesson and up his alarm count.
“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, via MLB.com. “Moving forward, that’s what I’m going to do. Set a million alarms. Make sure I’m up. It stinks, though.”
Kansas City starts a home series against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday. Given that Perez never got his expected break, it’s likely that Jensen (a million alarms later) will be back behind the plate.
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