Royals’ September sensation makes huge leap in MLB Pipeline’s latest Top 100 update

The Royals are in full offseason mode following the traditional post-season news conference and the playoff action marching along without Kansas City.

The post-2025 accolades will start rolling in, in one fashion or another. While trophies and more prestigious recognition are ultimately individual goals, it is interesting to see how third parties will evaluate the Royals’ season.

One of the team’s notable in-season decisions came by promoting catching prospect Carter Jensen to the big league roster in September, with Kansas City still on the fringes of the playoff race. While there were some questions regarding the move, Jensen’s ultimate results were a consensus success and MLB Pipeline is one of those in his corner.

MLB Pipeline has Carter Jensen as Royals top prospect and more after stellar debut stretch.

MLB Pipeline has been evolving in recent years, updating prospect rankings and profiles more frequently throughout the season nowadays. In one of their post-season updates, Jensen shot up their Top 100 prospects, from 66th overall to 39th overall, following his MLB debut.

He was only outdone by St. Louis Cardinals catching prospect Rainiel Rodriguez and New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean for the biggest rise.

The update also saw Jensen surpass fellow Royals catching prospect Blake Mitchell as the organization’s top prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.

While Mitchell remains second and has immense potential, it is hard to ignore Jensen’s first impression in the face of a down season marred by injury from Mitchell.

Jensen only appeared in 20 games, but he was one of the league’s best hitters in his abbreviated work. He posted a 159 wRC+ in 69 plate appearances, good for 22nd amongst all MLB batters in September.

If he had maintained that pace across a full season, that wRC+ would be tied for the second-best mark amongst all rookies, only trailing Rookie of the Year favorite Nick Kurtz’s 170. It is even more remarkable to consider that the expected numbers suggest Jensen could have been even better. His .463 xwOBA only trailed New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge for the second-highest xwOBA in MLB this season.

Royals fans have surely been burned by the expected numbers not materializing into the box score, but Jensen was crushing the baseball as Kansas City’s season came to a close.

Jensen has come a long way behind the plate, and his first taste catching big-league innings showcased that

The folks at Pipeline highlighted his “above-average arm strength and improved actions give baserunners something to think about,” and his framing abilities have come a long way since Kansas City drafted him 78th overall in the 2021 MLB Draft.

The catcher will be front and center when it comes to debating who will be on Kansas City’s next Opening Day roster, but the 22-year-old has a mighty strong case to break camp with the team.

For now, Jensen is unequivocally one of the game’s hottest prospects, and that should keep Kansas City’s prospect hounds warm through the winter months to come.