Kansas City Star’s Jaylon Thompson has more on the Kansas City Royals moving rookie catcher Carter Jensen to the top of Friday’s lineup and immediately reaping rewards.
“We feel really good about how he controls the (strike) zone, how he understands himself and how he puts up really quality at-bats,” Quatraro said before Friday night’s game. “He is swinging the bat extremely well. It gets him one more at-bat and one more crack at it when the lineup turns over.” Jensen didn’t waste time in his new
role. He hit a leadoff double — one of three doubles for Jensen in the game — off Scherzer in the first inning. Jensen became the second player in franchise history to have a three-double performance within his first 12 games.
Royals reliever Lucas Erceg saw his season come to a premature end on Friday.
“The biggest disappointment for me was that I went into last offseason with two goals in mind,” Erceg said. “One, on the field, to minimize damage, not let innings get out of hand, and I feel like I’ve done a good job with that this season. Another thing was to prepare for another postseason outing, and be ready, be available when that time comes. For me, not even making it to the end of the season, it’s a disappointing feeling knowing that I’m not going to finish the regular season out. The main priority is health, moving forward, thinking about next year, and what I want to accomplish next year. Even this offseason, I don’t want to go into the offseason having to deal with anything more than it could end up being. Ultimately, we talked and made the decision.”
David Lesky has a good point on how Stephen Kolek’s minor-league issues just don’t translate to the bigs.
And, to be honest, I thought there might be some witchcraft from the Padres involved because Kolek had a 4.18 ERA in 79.2 innings with the Padres, but then went to Omaha and posted a 6.63 ERA in five starts over 19 innings. In that time, he gave up 30 hits. But then I realized he also had a 6.00 ERA in 27 AAA innings with the Padres and gave up 38 hits. This is another point entirely, but I think they have to figure out something with how different AAA is from the big leagues. For a guy to have a 6.26 ERA in 11 starts in AAA and a now 3.54 ERA in 18 starts in the big leagues in the same season points to how difficult it is to evaluate in 2025. But, I digress.
Kolek had a great start against the Seattle Mariners this week, providing some insight as to what has changed for him since coming to Kansas City.
“Hopefully, it’s a good kind of runway into next year,” Kolek said. “This year’s still going. I’ll at least get another [start], and we’re going to fight to the end. For now, it’s focusing on today, and tomorrow, we’ll worry about tomorrow. As the future goes on, we’ll worry about that whenever it comes.” Since coming to Kansas City, first in Triple-A and then in the Majors, Kolek has tinkered with his pitch usage, and it showed again against the Mariners. He’s shifted to throwing his four-seam fastball far more often than he did in San Diego. And the last two starts have been all about his changeup. In Kolek’s 14 starts with the Padres, batters were 1-for-15 with a 20.5% whiff rate on his changeup.
It may seem counterintuitive for the Royals to think seriously about keeping Maile for another year, but hanging onto him makes some sense. He’s an asset they may well want to retain. As he did this season, Maile can provide valuable organizational depth in 2026. Jensen will more than likely begin the season in Kansas City, where he’ll back up Perez and probably take the majority of turns as the Royals’ designated hitter. Re-signing Maile, even to just another minor league deal, will preserve him as a temporary replacement if injury befalls Perez or Jensen.
Track the Royals’ tragic number, along with other teams’ magic numbers as the postseason approaches.
Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider was ejected in Friday night’s blowout loss, with Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker also getting an early trip to the showers.
Royals prospects help volunteer efforts with local charity Giving the Basics.
Hannah Keyser has a response to the MLB’s self-imposed dead period for scouting.
Clayton Kershaw’s retirement is making MLB stars somewhat starstruck.
The long-time Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher made his final regular-season start in Dodger Stadium on Friday.
Trevor Rogers is realizing some of his potential with the Baltimore Orioles.
Juan Soto looks worthy of his massive contract after his first season with the New York Mets was filled with career bests.
Paul Skenes did not mince words about the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 2025 gains.
Like college baseball and have time to watch a movie but don’t want to? Check this podcast out from On The Clock.
Today’s song of the day is Robert Randolph & the Family Band with Ain’t Nothing Wrong with That.
