Royals’ Carter Jensen has responded to controversial sleep saga in best way possible

The Kansas City Royals couldn’t build on any momentum they may’ve created for themselves after opening their all AL Central series with a win versus the Guardians on Monday.

In fact they did the exact opposite on Tuesday. Their offense went extremely cold, only registering one hit and leaving 12 runners stranded on base.

That one hit though offered quite the silver lining. It didn’t just provide the Royals with their lone run of the afternoon, but extended a much needed hot streak.

Royals prospect Carter Jensen has been on a role of late, statistically becoming one of KC’s best hitters in their inconsistent offense. Through 31 plate appearances across 10 games, Jensen is slashing .259/.323/.630 with three homers, six RBI and a 162 wRC+.

However, that wasn’t always the case for Jensen, in fact it was looking really rough for the Rookie of the Year hopeful to start the season.

And at the peak of his struggles came some unneeded off-field drama after the 22-year-old overslept ahead of the afternoon series finale against the Minnesota Twins last week and was subsequently scratched from the starting lineup.

However, since then, he’s seem to respond in the best way possible, putting the past behind him and becoming one of the most reliable hitters in this order.

Carter Jensen has been wide-awake since making headlines for all the wrong reasons

On the Royals.TV broadcast on Tuesday, after going yard in the second inning host and sideline reporter Joel Goldberg and the crew discussed just how strong Jensen has looked since his impromptu benching on Thursday.

In his last four games, Jensen is slashing .455/.538/1.091 with a pair of homers, four RBI, a 15.4% walk-rate and a 350 wRC+. This is certainly a stark contrast from the form he was in prior to start the year.

After making such a strong impression in his rise through the minor leagues, his September big league cameo last season and then his strong 2026 spring training, hopes were high for Jensen as a consensus top-tier prospect in baseball this season, making his struggles that much more concerning.

This only made his oversleeping saga that much more of a head-in-hands moment, leaving some to wonder if there needed to be more action taken to resolve this situation.

However, according to Vinnie Pasquantino, the team had no hard feelings towards Jensen after the fact, understanding that this was of course a mistake and an opportunity for growth.

And if there were anyway to move on and regain the trust of your teammates, it’s putting your head down a performing on the field, which is precisely what Jensen has done since then.