MLB insider's bold position change idea for Royals' Carter Jensen is far too premature

The Kansas City Royals are in full evaluation mode as the 2026 season enters the back quarter stretch, looking to put a painful year in the rearview mirror. There are plenty of questions in the pitching corps in all facets when fans look to the 2027 roster, but the position players seem much more set. That applies especially to the infield picture, assuming third baseman Maikel Garcia and first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino are healthy come Opening Day. But the fact that catcher Carter Jensen looks like the backstop of the future does not entirely quell some positional questions.

ESPN's MLB insider Jeff Passan expounded on this with 810 Sports' Soren Petro on the latter's daily show The Program. Granted, Petro, host of the Kauffman Corner podcast, is a vocal advocate for outfielder Jac Caglianone to move back to first base, a spot he has played more and more since Pasquantino's injury issues resurfaced this season. But when pressed on the Royals' catching depth down on the farm, led by 2023 first-rounder Blake Mitchell, the roster logjam solution for Passan is not moving Mitchell or perhaps a red-hot Ramon Ramirez, but rather the local product Jensen.

"Those problems tend to work themselves out. I said the same thing with MJ Melendez and, oops. You're going to despise me for saying this, but Carter Jensen is a good enough athlete to move to the outfield."

ESPN's Jeff Passan, The Program Aug. 10

While the scenario requires Mitchell to surge through the farm quicker than he has in his professional career, Passan's sentiment is one that has been commonly echoed. Jensen is a good athlete, and while he has improved behind the plate this season, if catching begins to negatively impact his bat, this is a move Kansas City should evaluate in 2027.

Jensen looked rough behind the plate earlier this season, but the rookie has looked more comfortable as he shifted to the primary catcher role thanks to a nagging Salvador Perez injury. The reality, though, is that shift coincided with a decline in his production.

Perez went nearly a month between catching games, spanning from June 28 through July 23. Beginning on June 28, Jensen's .192/.284/.392 line in 141 plate appearances is a steep decline from his season numbers leading up to that point. Whether it is causation or correlation, there is no way to tell definitively. Since Perez has returned to some catching duties, it is not as if Jensen has found a hot bat either, as his numbers are still paltry despite being atop the Royals' lineup more often than not.

Royals fans, like Passan, will cringe when thinking of Royals catchers shifting to the outfield, a la MJ Melendez less than five seasons ago. Melendez went from a hopeful core piece to an afterthought, with his move to the outfield serving as a seeming apex point in his career. Perez was much more of a productive hitter at that point though, with a stranglehold on the primary catcher role, so a shift to the outfield made sense. But that was then, this is now, and there is still baseball to play.

Royals shouldn't force position change with Carter Jensen for convenience's sake

Now that Perez has passed Hall of Famer George Brett's franchise home run record, there will be speculation about whether he returns for 2027 until he quells it himself. The toll of catching was, well, catching up to the Venezuelan for some time now, but the injuries that used to be minor ones are keeping Kansas City's captain from being the everyday Gold Glove winner fans have come to expect. There is a not-zero possibility that instead of talking about Jensen shifting positions, Kansas City is looking for a reliable backup if Perez hangs up his catching gear for good.

Jensen has never played a position other than catcher in his professional career, logging thousands of innings behind the plate since Kansas City drafted him back in 2021. The 23-year-old is a better athlete than most MLB catchers, but pushing him to the outfield over Mitchell seems like a stretch. Plus, Jensen is only 13 months older than Mitchell and already logging a full season's worth of work in the majors while Mitchell is still in High-A Quad Cities.

Like Passan said, both players are doing certain things well this season, but projecting a roster logjam at catcher in the near future feels like a stretch more fit for the offseason doldrums.

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