Royals rookie phenom is annoyingly starting to turn into Guardians killer

While Royals rookie catcher Carter Jensen only has 31 games of big league experience under his belt, he’s wasted little time making himself known among Guardians fans. 

Despite going 0-for-4 on Wednesday, Jensen is still sporting a .250 batting average with two home runs in four career appearances against the Guardians (marking the most games he’s played against any team in his short MLB career). 

Sure, it’s a small sample size. But it’s a small sample size that makes it seem like Jensen is destined to be a thorn in the Guardians’ side for years to come. 

Carter Jensen has punished the Guardians throughout the early part of his career 

After going hitless in his only at-bat against the Guardians last season, Jensen racked up homers in the first two games of the Royals’ series against Cleveland despite the fact that both games were played in freezing cold temperatures. 

While Jensen’s first homer traveled just 359 feet, it left his bat at 111.2 miles per hour, which is perhaps the biggest reason why it was able to cut through the cold, Cleveland night and leave the park on a day where balls were dying on the warning track left and right. 

He helped jump-start another scoring opportunity in the eighth inning by lining a ball through the hole on the left side of the infield one batter before Johnathan India took Kolby Allard deep to the left field seats a batter later. 

He (literally) provided all of the Royals’ offense a day later in Cleveland’s 2-1 win, as his second inning homer was Kansas City’s lone hit against Gavin Williams and the big guns in the Guardians’ bullpen. 

That homer was arguably even more impressive considering it traveled 389 feet on a day when it was even colder. It also came against a bonafide ace in Williams, who spent the rest of the afternoon baffling Royals’ hitters. 

At this point, it looks like Jensen is set to follow in the path of fellow Guardians killers like Vinnie Pasquantino and Manny Machado. 

But he’s not without his faults, as he was benched earlier this year when he slept through his alarm and was late to the park on a gameday. 

It’s not a career-ending mistake by any means, but it served as a reminder that he’s still just 22 and has some growing up to do. 

But that age and inexperience hasn’t stopped him from producing at the plate, and the Guardians have become the No. 1 victim of that production. 

While the Royals didn’t factor into the American League Central postseason race last year, they still have a talented roster led by Bobby Witt Jr. and others. Jensen’s emergence will only help with that depth.