Well-Rested Rookie Pays for His Mistake

Carter Jensen just learned the hard way that rookie mistakes can start before the first pitch. The 22-year-old Kansas City Royals catcher was pulled from Thursday's starting lineup against the Minnesota Twins after he overslept, missed pregame warmups, and showed up too late to keep his spot, per MLB.com. "No running from it," he told reporters, saying he simply slept through his alarm and feels he let down teammates and coaches. Manager Matt Quatraro called it an oversight, stressing that Jensen is a hard worker with no history of issues and that "we'll move on."

Jensen scrambled to the Royals' stadium once he woke up, but the decision was already made. He didn't appear until the ninth inning as catcher in a game the Royals lost 5–1. The rookie, who vowed to start setting multiple alarms for day games, said there was "no excuse" and promised it won't happen again. A teammate said the team was concerned when Jensen didn't show up on time, per ESPN. "I know it was not his favorite drive to the field this morning," said first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, "but it wasn't our favorite morning either, trying to figure out what was going on."