The Kansas City Royals haven’t had the season they set out to put together back when Opening Day was just arriving.
That doesn’t mean nothing good has come out of this campaign, though. For one — they’ve learned just how special Carter Jensen can be.
Jensen is one of the rising young stars in the AL Central Division, and he will likely be the heir at catcher to Salvador Perez.
For now, the Royals have had to figure out how to manage playing time behind the plate while getting both the veteran stalwart and the young star in the lineup.
Going forward, it’s clear that Jensen is one of the guys the Royals will want to build around, which is always a good thing to have — along with Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino, Jensen adds another key piece in the batting lineup.
He also has put himself in a fun spot in the Royals’ record books, thanks to a home run he hit Saturday in Pittsburgh against the Pirates. It was the 25th homer of the year for Jensen.
Carter Jensen Sets Royals Record
Jensen has now hit more home runs in a season than any rookie in Royals history.
He did technically enter the year still as a rookie-eligible player, so he qualifies for this stat despite debuting in 2025.
Jensen’s 25 home runs broke a tie with Bob Hamelin, who hit 24 homers in the 1994 season — and could’ve had more if not for the strike.
The top-five is fascinating on this list: Tied for third are Carlos Beltran (1999) and Bo Jackson (1987), who both had 22 homers as rookies; tied for fifth are Bobby Witt Jr. (2022) and Mark Quinn (2000), who each had 20 home runs as rookies.
Jensen has about another week of the season to add to his mark and try to push it a little higher up and further to break.
Records are meant to be broken, though, and Jensen came along and did just that.
The most home runs by a rookie in Royals’ history:
1) Carter Jensen (25 HR) šŖ
The future is bright behind the plate in Kansas City! pic.twitter.com/2jJcASE7Sa
ā Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) September 19, 2026
Royals Future
There are plenty of reasons to be excited about Kansas City’s future.
One player not mentioned above, Maikel Garcia, has missed a lot of this season due to injury, but he’s under contract through 2031.
The Royals also still have a solid pitching core if they can keep players healthy, including lefty Cole Ragans.
The AL Central Division has solid young players throughout the division, though, so the Royals have to keep pushing forward to keep up. The positive development this season for Jensen will certainly help the cause.
Royals’ Carter Jensen Sets All-Time Record