Carter

Jensen

Jensen wasted no time in this one, launching the fourth pitch thrown by Ian Seymour for a mammoth 449-foot (106.7-mph EV) solo shot that gave the Royals an early 1-0 edge. He also reached on an infield single to open the eighth inning but wound up stranded at second base. With his two-hit attack, the 22-year-old backstop is now slashing .251/.314/.452 with 13 homers and 47 RBI over 312 plate appearances on the season.

It doesn’t sound like anything serious, but the Royals did add Luke Maile to the roster on Thursday as an insurance policy. Perez is having a disappointing season at the dish, slashing just .201/.241/.327 with 10 homers and 30 RBI in 340 plate appearances. Carter Jensen is behind the dish and batting leadoff for the Royals while Starling Marte functions as the team’s designated hitter against Rays’ left-hander Ian Seymour on Thursday night at Kauffman Stadium.

Jensen bookended the scoring for the Royals in the victory. He singled home Lane Thomas in the first inning, and the rookie backstop/outfielder doubled in the go-ahead run in the fourth. Jensen has done a solid job in his first full MLB campaign with a .251/.317/.438 slash over the first 84 games, but it does feel like he’s due for a big power push in the coming weeks — if not sooner

In true lead-off hitter fashion, Jensen started this game off with a single and then walked with one out to ignite the Royals’ two-run rally in the fifth inning. Despite a disappointing season power-wise thus far with just 10 home runs, Jensen has carved out a nice role for himself out of the lead-off spot for the past month.

Jensen extended his hitting streak to 13 consecutive games with an RBI single to center field off Rays ace Drew Rasmussen in the fifth inning. It was his lone hit in four at-bats out of the leadoff spot. The 22-year-old rookie backstop has homered twice in his last five games and could be in line for a big second half, especially if he remains near the top of Kansas City’s lineup.

Jensen led off the game with his ninth homer of the season and finished a triple shy of the cycle. He has now hit leadoff against every right-hander the Royals have faced dating back to May 30, while Lane Thomas has filled the role against southpaws. Jensen had six homers through the end of April, but Wednesday’s was only his third since then, so his recent promotion to leadoff hasn’t been due to his hitting at the plate. Kansas City has spent most of the year as one of the lower-scoring offenses in MLB, but they’ve picked it up a bit over the past few weeks.

All three RBI came on a bases-loaded double to the gap in left-center in the sixth. Jensen is hitting just .208 with three walks in 57 plate appearances out of the leadoff spot, but oddly enough, he has driven in 13 runs in his 12 games there. He totaled 22 RBI in 53 games while batting lower in the order.

After Jensen’s sac fly, Bobby Witt Jr. looped a liner over Orlando Arcia to give the Royals the lead. Jensen’s homer off Joe Ryan was his eighth of the year, though just his second in his last 37 games. He’s gone 5-for-31 with a 11/1 K/BB in seven games since the Royals moved him in the leadoff spot. It worked out today, but fifth or sixth is probably still the right slot for him,

Jensen put the Royals on the board with a base hit in the seventh to drive in a run and later came around to score. He then took Chris Martin deep for a two-run blast in the eighth to give the team a pair of insurance runs. The 22-year-old catcher is up to seven homers while slashing .228/.309/.401 with 22 runs scored and 26 RBI across 191 plate appearances.

Royals manager Matt Quatraro is shaking things up by moving Carter to the leadoff spot for the second time this season to face Rangers righty Kumar Rocker. Maikel Garcia has been moved to third in the order with Vinnie Pasquantino hitting cleanup. The 22-year-old rookie backstop has been mired in an extended tailspin at the plate, hitting .198 (19-for-96) with one homer, 11 RBI and 32 strikeouts over his last 30 games.