{"id":2438766,"date":"2026-05-31T02:51:52","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T02:51:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2438766"},"modified":"2026-05-31T02:51:52","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T02:51:52","slug":"royals-notes-jensen-ragans-altavilla-avila-mears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/royals-notes-jensen-ragans-altavilla-avila-mears\/","title":{"rendered":"Royals Notes: Jensen, Ragans, Altavilla, Avila, Mears"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Royals catcher Carter Jensen<\/a><\/strong> was shifted to the leadoff spot on Saturday with the club searching for offensive production. The young backstop came through with an RBI single and a two-run homer. Kansas City scored six runs in the contest after having put up a total of five runs in four games this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the idea of hitting leadoff<\/em>,\u201d Jensen said before the game, relayed by Jaylon Thompson of the Kansas City Star<\/a>. \u201cI think I can fill the role great. I think it\u2019s just putting my approach to my plan and just going out there and competing<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jensen has mostly hit fifth this season. Of his 167 at-bats, 125 have come in the No. 5 spot. He\u2019d led off just once this year heading into Saturday. Jensen went 1-for-5 with a pair of RBI in that game, a 12-1 Royals\u2019 win. He was atop the lineup for two games in 2025, posting three hits (all doubles) in 11 ABs. One of those matchups was a 20-1 win.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old Jensen hasn\u2019t been able to recapture the form he showed in his MLB debut last year. He was slashing .222\/.306\/.383 heading into Saturday. The catcher is still walking at a double-digit clip, but his strikeout rate has spiked to 29.0%. Jensen struck out just 17.4% in 2025. He posted a massive 159 wRC+ in 20 games.<\/p>\n

Kansas City has scored the second-fewest runs in the league. The team ranks in the bottom five for OPS and wRC+. The leadoff spot itself hasn\u2019t been a major issue, as Maikel Garcia<\/a><\/strong> has posted near league-average numbers. Garcia was moved to the No. 3 spot for the past two games, including tonight. Lane Thomas<\/a><\/strong> led off on Friday.<\/p>\n

The Royals have dropped 15 of their last 18 games. The slide has the club sitting 11 games behind the first-place Guardians in the AL Central. Despite the challenges, coaching changes are not on the horizon, per general manager J.J. Picollo. \u201cI have a lot of confidence in our staff<\/em>,\u201d Picollo told reporters, including Anne Rogers of MLB.com<\/a>. \u201cYou can go back and look at all the historical research on changing coaching staffs. There\u2019s not a lot of strong data on changing coaching staffs mid-season leading to what you need to do<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s more from the Royals\u2026<\/p>\n