Carter

Jensen

Jensen will take his talents to the Dominican Winter League this offseason after batting .300/.391/.550 with three homers and 13 RBI during a 20-game late-season cameo with the Royals. The 22-year-old backstop is one of the top catching prospects in baseball and appears likely to take over as Kansas City’s future starter at the position in the near future with Salvador Perez in his mid-30’s.

Jensen will hit higher than eighth for the first time. The 22-year-old has shown flashes of brilliance — albeit in a small sample — and he’ll hit leadoff with Mike Yastrzemski not in the lineup.

Jensen picked a bad day for his coming-out party, what with the Mariners getting a three-homer game and two homers from their record-setting catcher. Still, this was impressive stuff from the 22-year-old Jensen, who homered off Logan Gilbert and Carlos Vargas and then hit a 377-foot double off Luke Jackson that would have been a homer in 10 ballparks. Those hits left his bat at 103.4, 110.8 and 111.3 mph. Jensen was in the Kansas City lineup for a third straight game after starting just three of his first 11 games in the majors. He’s 6-for-20 with six RBI and four walks so far.

The Royals have Salvador Perez at first base tonight, but they just don’t trust Jensen behind the plate it seems. Luke Maile is catching for the second time since Jensen was called up. Jensen has yet to catch and has DH’d only three times in nine games since his arrival.

Jensen’s first ever MLB hit was an RBI double. The talented 22-year-old drove in another run on a fielder’s choice for what was (obviously) his first multi-RBI game. Jensen is more of a long-term play than one who should be considered in redraft leagues, but he’s definitely a name that should be monitored in the coming years; particularly when you consider he’ll line up behind the plate.

One start for Jac Caglianone (he went 0-for-2 with a walk on Wednesday) and one for Jensen in three games against right-handers since both arrived Tuesday. That’s just not a good sign that either youngster is going to have any fantasy value over the rest of the month. Salvador Perez has caught all three games since Jensen’s callup.

Jensen ascends to the big leagues after hitting .290/.377/.501 with 20 homers and 10 steals between Double-A and Triple-A this season. The Royals figure to give him a fair amount of playing time at catcher, with Salvador Perez more frequently serving as a DH. They probably should have made the move a month ago after trading Freddy Fermin.

The 22-year-old backstop was a third-round selection by the Royals from the 2021 draft class. Jensen has had a terrific season in the minor leagues, slashing .290/.377/.501 with 20 homers, 76 RBI and 10 stolen bases over 492 plate appearances between Double-A Northwest Arkansas and Triple-A Omaha. Look for him to share the load behind the dish over the final month of the season with Salvador Perez seeing more time as the designated hitter.

To acquire Fermin, the Padres will send right-handers Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek to Kansas City, according to Passan. San Diego continues to be aggressive at the deadline, and Fermin is viewed as one of the better defensive backstops in the sport who can hold his own with the bat as seen in a .255 average; albeit with a slugging percentage of just .339. This could mean top catching prospect Carter Jensen could be on the way up to Kansas City, and he’s a player fantasy managers should take a close look at.

It’s unclear whether Rosenthal has heard anything specific from either team that this could be in the works or is just suggesting that the pieces fit. He does report that the Royals are looking for controllable outfield assets, and Duran certainly fits the bill there. The Red Sox are open to trading from their outfield depth, and would love to add a starting pitcher of Lugo‘s caliber. As Rosenthal notes, Lugo is likely to exercise his player option and become a free agent at the end of the year, so the Red Sox would likely want bullpen help or prospects in return as well, like catching prospects Blake Mitchell or Carter Jensen. It’s a trade that could thread the needle of the Red Sox helping their team in the immediate and also landing a talented hitter that fits the timeline of their young prospects.