The Kansas City Royals know that soon enough, life without Salvador Perez behind the plate will become a reality.
Perez has been a Royal since 2011 and transcended to the rank of team captain before the 2023 season. He and the Royals reached agreement on a two-year, $25 million extension at the start of the offseason, and beyond that term, it’s easy to wonder if the 35-year-old (36 in May) will stick around.
Fourtunately, rookie catcher Carter Jensen looked fantastic in September, putting up a .941 OPS across 69 plate appearances. It’s early, but it looks like the Royals may have their eventual successor to Perez alreardy on the roster.
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What Royals foresee for Jensen in 2026
Royals manager Matt Quatraro did nothing to dispel that notion in his comments about Jensen earlier this week.
“He’s a sponge when it comes to the game calling, the processes we have in place,” Quatraro told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers. “That’s going to be great from him to continue to learn, and from Salvy. … We have high hopes for him, obviously, to be a big part of what we do, whether that’s behind the plate or offensively.”
While Jensen may have a future as the full-time starter, Perez is still very much in the picture, and figuring out how to juggle playing time to keep both in rhythm will be a challenging task. Young players need reps, so putting Jensen in the lineup for only about half of the team’s games is already a bit of a risk.
“As far as playing time, I think in a perfect world — (for) Salvy, I don’t know an exact number, but we need to utilize his bat as much as his catching,” Quatraro told Rogers. “Hopefully to be able to keep him fresh, Carter can handle a decent workload.”
Both will see time at designated hitter, but that role will also occasionally be needed for the likes of fellow youngster Jac Caglianone.
Jensen mostly has to prove he can hit major league pitching in a larger sample, but the Royals have every reason to believe that in a few years, he can take up the mantle Perez will eventually leave vacated.
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