KANSAS CITY, Mo.– kansas city catcher carter jensen Was removed from the Royals’ starting lineup for Thursday’s game against minnesota twins After he falls asleep.
“I didn’t wake up from my alarm. I slept through it,” Jensen told The Kansas City Star and other outlets. “There’s really no excuses — nor should I. It sucks. It happens. I feel like I let teammates down, the coaches. Just learn from it and know it won’t happen again.”
Jensen eventually arrived, but not early enough to prepare adequately to start the game. He appeared as Kansas City’s catcher in the ninth inning of the Royals’ 5–1 loss.
salvador perezJoe, who was expected to be Kansas City’s designated hitter on Thursday, caught the first eight innings.
“First and foremost, I’m glad Carter is OK,” the Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino Told reporters. “I mean, that was an initial idea when you were trying to get a hold of his parents and everything like that — just make sure he’s OK.”
Pasquantino said Jensen, a 22-year-old rookie, needs to learn from this experience.
“There are some things that can’t happen and this is one of them,” Pasquantino said. “So he’s got to wear it on the chin – the same way anyone has to. It can’t happen, and hopefully it won’t happen again. But it’s one of those things that you can’t afford to make mistakes like that in this game. He’s just got to do his best and move on. I know he feels really bad.
“I know it wasn’t his favorite drive out to the field this morning, but it wasn’t our favorite morning either, trying to figure out what was going on. He’ll learn from it, move on a little bit. We’re here for him, though. Not that anyone is mad at him. Things happen. But you have to learn from mistakes like this — and maybe get another alarm clock or something.”
