A 482-foot moonshot saw Royals rookie sensation end 2025 on highest possible note

The Kansas City Royals season came to close on Sunday, as while they did manage to eke out a winning record for the year, it wasn’t enough to earn them their second consecutive postseason berth.

Before the curtains closed though, their high-flying rookie sensation, Carter Jensen, made sure to get one final word in during what’s been a stellar opening month to his big league career.

After Mike Yastrzemski got the seventh inning started with a solo homer, Jensen would step up to the plate immediately afterwards and promptly launch a solo homer of his own in other-worldly fashion.

Carter Jensen leaves 2025 season with Royals on highest possible note

Jensen’s 3-0 blast off Michael Kelly can only be described as moonshot, carrying a projected distance of 482 feet with a 27 degree launch angle and leaving the yard at a 112.7 mph.

That marked the rookie’s third round-tripper of the year, which for just 69 plate appearances is certainly nothing to shake a stick at.

Jensen already enter the fold in Kansas City on the back of an incredible minor league season. In 68 games to start the year in Double-A, he slashed .292/.360/.420 with six homers, 37 RBI and a 118 wRC+. Then, after moving to Triple-A, he really came into his own, slugging 14 homers, driving in 39 runs and slashing .288/.404/.647 in 43 games.

What’s even more impressive is how strong a hitter he continued to look after getting his call to The Show, as nothing would indicate that the big league spotlight was too bright for him.

In those aforementioned 69 plate appearances across 20 games since his arrival at the start of September, Jensen slashed .300/.391/.550 with a three homers, 13 RBI and a 159 wRC+. He struck out just 17.4% of the time, walked 13.0% of the time and hit the ball hard at a 58.3% clip.

While other prosects have struggled in their first taste of major league baseball, Jensen has done the complete opposite. His future looks as bright as ever and he has built a firm foundation during his 2025 cameo to leap off of come 2026.