KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A costly mistake by Kansas City Royals rookie Carter Jensen led to his removal from Thursday’s starting lineup against the Minnesota Twins when the young catcher failed to wake up on time.
The 22-year-old Jensen admitted to reporters that he simply slept through his alarm clock. “I didn’t wake up to my alarm. Slept through it,” Jensen explained to The Kansas City Star and other media outlets. “Don’t really have an excuse — nor should I. It sucks. It happens. I feel like I let teammates down, coaches down. Just learn from it and just know it won’t happen again.”
While Jensen did make it to the ballpark, his late arrival prevented him from completing the necessary pregame preparation to start behind the plate. He was able to enter the contest during the final inning of Kansas City’s 5-1 defeat.
The scheduling mishap forced Salvador Perez, who had been slated to serve as the team’s designated hitter, to take over catching duties for the first eight frames of the game.
Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino expressed initial concern for his teammate’s wellbeing when Jensen couldn’t be reached. “First and foremost, I’m glad Carter’s OK,” Pasquantino shared with reporters. “I mean, that was kind of the initial thought when you’re trying to get a hold of his parents and everything like that — just make sure he’s OK.”
However, Pasquantino also emphasized that the rookie must use this incident as a learning opportunity. “There are some things that cannot happen, and that’s one of them,” Pasquantino stated. “So 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. But it’s one of those things that you just can’t afford mistakes like that in this game. Just got to move forward the best that he can. I know he feels really bad.”
Despite the disappointment, Pasquantino indicated the team remains supportive of Jensen while acknowledging the seriousness of the situation. “I know 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 a little bit. We’re here for him, though. It’s not like anybody’s mad at him. Things happen. But you’ve got to learn from mistakes like that — and maybe get another alarm clock or something.”
