Royals catcher Carter Jensen scratched from lineup for oversleeping, vows to 'set a million alarms' in future

Jensen said he slept through his alarm and woke up in a "full panic"

Carter Jensen was supposed to be the starting catcher in the Royals' series finale vs. the Twins on Thursday -- an eventual 5-1 Twins victory. Instead, he was a late scratch from the lineup, moving Salvador Perez from DH to catcher. Generally speaking, a late lineup scratch like this happens when a player has an injury. In Jensen's case, he just overslept. 

"No running from it," Jensen 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, a 22-year-old rookie, said once he did wake up, he was in a "full panic." 

"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."

It doesn't sound like Jensen will be punished any further. 

"Carter had an oversight," manager Matt Quatraro said. "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."

Jensen headed into the season as the Royals' top prospect. He appeared in 20 games late last season, hitting .300/.391/.550 with six doubles and three homers in 60 at-bats. So far here in 2026, he's just 2 for 16, though one of his hits was a home run. He's splitting time between catcher and DH, along with the 36-year-old veteran Perez. 

Though two series, the Royals are 3-3 here in the early going. They start a series at home against the 5-1 Brewers on Friday. We can't be sure whether or not Jensen will be in the lineup, but it's a pretty good bet he'll be one of the first players to the ballpark this time.