PARK HILL GRAD GETS FIRST MLB HIT WITH THE ROYALS
This past week, Carter Jensen realized his lifelong dream when he stepped onto the field at Kauffman Stadium, bat in hand, and took his place at the plate. The week’s flurry of activities marked the Park Hill High School graduate’s first at-bat and also his initial behind-the-plate action as catcher.
He made his debut on Tuesday, Sept. 2, with one at-bat as a pinch hitter but struck out. On Sept. 4, he was in the starting lineup as designated hitter. He was 0 for 2 with one walk in that game.
He broke though on Saturday, Sept. 6.
The left-handed hitter’s second at bat that night was a charm when the designated hitter blasted a double in the fourth inning in a game against the Minnesota Twins. TV cameras captured Carter’s idol, Salvador Perez, congratulating him after that hit while Jensen’s immediate family–father, mother and two brothers, were seen celebrating with high-fives.
While the team won Saturday’s game 11-2, they lost Sunday 5-1 and missed the chance to sweep the series.
Jensen’s been on a successive climb since his first at-bats in T-ball at the age of three. For a previous Landmark article, Carter admitted to “having a baseball bat in my hands since I could walk.”
During his first year in high school, he determinedly won a spot on the Royals scout team, Urban Youth Academy. That’s where local scout Matt Price was quoted in an online MLB article saying Jensen was the “best player on the field,” naming his powerful hitting as a standout. Jensen climbed the school team ladder, playing at all levels, leading up to graduation. He was prepared to play in college, but, instead, was drafted by the Royals.
“School’s never been his favorite thing,” his mother, Kim Jensen said, adding, “I don’t think he hated to be done with going to class and taking tests.”
The Royals drafted Carter as a third-round pick in 2021. He began the current 2025 season in AA Northwest Arkansas, where he initially struggled with his swing, according to the MLB article, but improved and earned a spot at AAA Omaha. There, his consistent hot bat blasted 14 homers and 11 doubles.
During his first at-bat as a major league player, he faced Kenley Jansen, a seasoned pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels. Carter’s father, Jim Jensen, said that while Carter struck out, it was good at bat. “He took some confident swings,” he said. “he got a taste of it and got the first one out of the way.”
As a Kansas City Royal, Carter is under “team control for at least six more seasons, meaning he will play for the Major League team for that many seasons unless he’s traded,” Sam Mellinger, Kansas City Royals vice president of communications wrote in an email.
The July trade of catcher Freddy Fermin “could mean more opportunities going forward,” Mellinger wrote and added, “Carter is young, but his professionalism and work ethic have been widely complimented.”
While The Landmark reached out to Carter Jensen for this story, we did not hear back by deadline (the team was traveling to play the Cleveland Guardians Monday through Thursday of this week), but did speak to his parents in a telephone interview about their impressions of their son’s first games in the majors.
Growing up, the consummate athlete tried soccer, hockey and basketball, but decided his high school sophomore year to abandon other sports to focus on baseball, his parents said.
The sport “is a natural for him,” Jim said. Carter discovered his penchant for catching at age 10 or 11, Kim said, and added he’s well suited to the position, which requires calling pitches. “He’s kind of bossy,” she said.
Jim described his son as very focused, determined and competitive and Kim added “confident” to his list of characteristics.
“He sets goals and does everything he can to reach them,” Jim said of his son, who hits left and throws right. Catching is a good fit for his determined personality since, as Jim said in a previous Landmark article, it’s an especially tough position because “you have to be focused—you’re in every play.”
Jon Davis, who was an assistant baseball coach at Park Hill High School when Carter played there (today he is head coach) described him as an “elite talent” and said of his call up, “Four years ago he was playing for us and now he has made it.”
His parents have witnessed years of games where he opted for fall ball after busy regular seasons as a way to gain more playing time. His parents estimate they’ve watched him play nearly 50 games per season and were at Kauffman Stadium with family and friends to watch his Major League debut. “We’ve seen him go up to bat a lot, but it was different seeing him go up to bat at Kauffman,” Kim said.
When Carter, at six feet tall and 210 pounds (according to the MLB’s BR Bullpen), took the field in his first Major League game Tuesday, the family’s section at Kauffman, erupted. His parents were surprised and pleased that the rest of the stadium’s fans joined them in cheering him on. “It was like the crowd didn’t even care if we (the team) won or lost,” Kim said.
His parents witnessed yet another example of their son’s growing stardom when Kauffman fans walked by wearing jerseys emblazoned with his number, 22, which also happens to represent the young player’s age. The team store sold the shirts during a special promotion.
Along the way, with each step up the ladder of their son’s career, the proud parents have remembered the statistics that their son must beat in order to play at the highest level—of the roughly 500,000 high school players in the country, only about one in 6,000 reach the MLB. And, playing in the minors also is no guarantee since fewer than 10 percent of those players reach the majors, according to Google.
His parents described the “surreal” experience of watching their son play at Kauffman and the effect on family. “He’s dreamed of this for so long,” his father said, his voice full of emotion, “it turned into a dream for all of us.”
