RADIO
Carter Jensen a Priority Waiver-Wire Target Amid Hot Stretch
Kansas City Royals catcher Carter Jensen has been swinging a hot bat lately, and he's on the fantasy radar as a very appealing waiver wire target. Over his last six games, Jensen is 9-for-23 with three home runs, six RBI, two walks, and five strikeouts. The bulk of his hits have been of the extra-base variety. In addition to his three homers, he's slugged three doubles and a triple during that six-game window. Over the full season, he has a .755 OPS with 22 homers, a 10.9% walk rate, a 28.1% strikeout rate, and 107 wRC+. Jensen gets the day off Sunday, but he's expected to be back in the lineup Monday against the Diamondbacks. In doing so, he'll look to extend his on-base streak to 12 games. He is rostered in 49% of leagues and currently ranks as the #8 catcher in RotoBaller's rest-of-season fantasy baseball rankings. Managers looking to strengthen or solidify their catcher position should consider picking up Jensen off the waiver wire if he's available.
Source: RotoBaller
Source: RotoBaller
Carter Jensen Has Been a Batting-Average Drain in the Second Half
Across 516 plate appearances in 2026, Kansas City Royals catcher Carter Jensen is hitting .224/.310/.412 with 19 home runs, 62 RBI, 61 runs scored, and two stolen bases. The 23-year-old has shown off impressive power for a young backstop at times this season, posting a 10.3% barrel rate for the year. However, Jensen's batting average ceiling is limited by his 28.5% strikeout rate. He's also been working through an extended slump at the plate, as he hit just .187 across 102 plate appearances in July and .165 across 106 plate appearances in August. Jensen still hit four home runs and scored 14 runs last month, so he's not completely without value for fantasy managers. Still, managers may want to look to sell high on him ahead of the stretch run of the season, while his overall numbers still look better than his current production.
Source: RotoBaller
Source: RotoBaller
Salvador Perez Returns to the Lineup on Saturday
Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez (elbow) is back in the starting lineup ahead of Saturday's game against the Los Angeles Angels. Perez returns after making an early exit during Wednesday's game due to a right elbow issue. He sat out of Friday's contest because of the injury, but returns as the designated hitter on Saturday. Perez is having a below-average year at the plate, but has been hitting the ball better in August. Fantasy managers can go ahead and get Perez back in their lineups ahead of first pitch on Saturday.
Source: mlb.com
Source: mlb.com
Salvador Perez Not Ready to Return on Friday
Kansas City Royals catcher/first baseman Salvador Perez (elbow) remains out of action for Friday's series opener on the road against the Los Angeles Angels, according to MLB.com. Carter Jensen is doing the catching for right-hander Seth Lugo and is batting leadoff against Angels right-hander Grayson Rodriguez. Perez was pulled early from Wednesday's contest, and he's not ready to return just yet despite having a scheduled day off on Thursday. The 36-year-old Venezuelan veteran still has some power with 16 home runs on the year, but he comes into Friday's action hitting just .216 (94-for-436) with a 3.8% walk rate in his 473 plate appearances. The 15-year veteran and nine-time All-Star should be considered day-to-day, but fantasy managers shouldn't be surprised if his elbow injury turns into a stint on the injured list. Perez has gone 8-for-35 (.229) with a single homer, two doubles, seven RBI, two runs scored, one walk, and two strikeouts in 10 games so far in August. His offensive decline has become very real after hitting 30 homers and driving in 100 runs just last year.
Source: MLB.com
Source: MLB.com
Salvador Perez Suffers Elbow Injury on Wednesday
The Kansas City Royals announced on Wednesday evening that catcher/first baseman Salvador Perez (elbow) left the contest early against the Los Angeles Dodgers due to right-elbow irritation. It's unclear exactly how serious Perez's injury is right now, so we'll consider him day-to-day until more information is available. The good news is that KC has a scheduled day off on Thursday, giving the veteran catcher an extra day to recover before potentially returning for Friday's series opener in Anaheim against the Los Angeles Angels. The 36-year-old has primarily been working as the Royals' designated hitter to keep him off his feet as much as possible. Perez went 1-for-2 with an RBI in Wednesday's 4-2 loss to the Dodgers before leaving early. The nine-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger winner hit 30 homers in 2025, but he's been in full offensive decline in 2026 with a .216/.262/.369 slash line, a career-low .631 OPS, 16 homers, 52 RBI, and 41 runs scored in his 15th year in the big leagues. Check back on Friday to see if he's included in the Royals' starting nine.
Source: Kansas City Royals
Source: Kansas City Royals
Salvador Perez Returns From Elbow Injury on Sunday
Kansas City Royals catcher/first baseman Salvador Perez (elbow) is serving as the team's designated hitter and is batting sixth versus the visiting Philadelphia Phillies and right-hander Aaron Nola in the series finale at Kauffman Stadium, according to MLB.com. A sore elbow has kept Perez out for each of the last two games, but he'll return for the series finale in KC. The 36-year-old Venezuelan backstop is running out of steam offensively in his 15th year in the majors (all with the Royals), as he enters Sunday's contest with a .201/.241/.327 slash line with a career-worst .568 OPS, 10 home runs, 30 RBI, and 29 runs scored across his 81 games (340 plate appearances). Fantasy managers may want to keep Perez on the bench until he shows some signs of life at the plate. In eight career at-bats against Nola, Perez is hitting .250 with an .875 OPS, a home run, and three RBI. Perez has five hits in his last 35 plate appearances with two doubles, two RBI, a run scored, no walks, and 12 strikeouts across nine games played.
Source: MLB.com
Source: MLB.com
Salvador Perez Not Ready to Return From Elbow Injury
Kansas City Royals catcher/first baseman Salvador Perez (elbow) remains out of the starting lineup for Saturday's contest against the visiting Philadelphia Phillies, according to MLB.com. Carter Jensen is doing the catching for right-hander Michael Wacha and will hit leadoff against Phillies left-hander Jesus Luzardo. It's the second straight game that Perez will sit due to soreness in his left elbow. It's not expected to be a serious injury, so fantasy managers could have the veteran backstop back on the field for Sunday's series finale at Kauffman Stadium. The 36-year-old nine-time All-Star might be on his last legs in his 15th year in the majors, as he enters play on Saturday sporting a rough .201/.241/.327 slash line with a career-low .568 OPS, 10 homers, 30 RBI, and 29 runs scored in his 81 games and 340 plate appearances. Since the start of June, he's gone 18-for-96 (.188) with a homer, four doubles, five RBI, eight runs scored, one walk, and 21 strikeouts.
Source: MLB.com
Source: MLB.com
Carter Jensen Goes Deep Again on Thursday, Priority Add Off the Waiver Wire?
Kansas City Royals left-handed hitting catcher Carter Jensen has been excellent at the plate of late for the Royals, hitting .310 with two home runs, five RBI, and two runs scored over the past seven days. On the season, he has improved his slash line up to .251/.314/.452 with 13 home runs, 47 RBI, 41 runs scored, 17 doubles, and one stolen base. Carter struggled out of the gates to start the season, but is now nearing 15 home runs leading up to the All-Star break, and has the chance at a 30-home-run pace and 100 RBI if he continues to swing well. The Royals lineup continues to struggle with injuries, but Jensen has been seeing consistent playing time and has become a must-roster and must-start player in two-catcher formats. In one-catcher formats, he is still struggling in some key areas, such as his strikeout rate being way up this year compared to 2025 (26.9 percent compared to 17.4 percent) and his walk rate being down (13 percent to 8.7 percent). All that said, he is still impacting the ball fairly well and has the upside to get hot, as we saw in June, when he hit .290 with five home runs, 20 RBI, and 18 runs scored. If available, fantasy managers should roster him.
Source: Baseball Savant
Source: Baseball Savant
Salvador Perez Out With Sore Elbow on Thursday
Kansas City Royals catcher/first baseman Salvador Perez (elbow) is out of Thursday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays due to a sore left elbow, according to Anne Rogers of MLB.com. Carter Jensen is doing the catching for right-hander Stephen Kolek and will bat leadoff for the Royals, with outfielder Starling Marte serving as the designated hitter and batting fifth against Rays right-hander Ian Seymour. The Royals called up catcher Luke Maile from Triple-A Omaha on Thursday, which could suggest that Perez's injury is enough to sideline him into the weekend and potentially land him on the injured list heading into the All-Star break. The aging Venezuelan backstop could probably use some time off, though, as he's hitting just .201/.241/.327 on the year with a career-worst .568 OPS, 10 homers, 30 RBI, 29 runs, and a 20.3% strikeout rate in his 340 plate appearances. In 23 games in June, Perez really struggled, going 18-for-96 (.188) with a homer, four doubles, five RBI, eight runs scored, one walk, and 21 strikeouts.
Source: MLB.com - Anne Rogers
Source: MLB.com - Anne Rogers
Carter Jensen Can Contribute Rare Catcher Numbers
Kansas City Royals catcher Carter Jensen has been outstanding over the last 18 games, hitting .315 with four homers, 16 runs, and 16 RBI. He has eight doubles to go with those four homers in that span, producing a .399 wOBA with a 49.2% hard-hit rate. The 22-year-old made it to the majors very quickly after being a third-round pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, and he is starting to settle in and produce at this level. He has also hit leadoff in 14 of those 18 games, putting him in a great position for run-production and getting him extra at-bats. The lefty still has lots of room to grow, but since he fills a catcher spot where his production is even more unusual, he makes a great pickup at this point from the waiver wire in almost all formats.
Source: RotoBaller
Source: RotoBaller
Salvador Perez Returns From Thumb Injury on Tuesday
Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez (thumb) is serving as the designated hitter and is batting fifth for the Royals on Tuesday against the visiting Texas Rangers and right-hander Nathan Eovaldi at Kauffman Stadium, per MLB.com. Perez will return to the starting nine after missing the last two games with a minor thumb injury. The 15-year Venezuelan veteran has been a stalwart for the Royals in his long tenure with the team, but the veteran catcher has shown clear signs of decline so far in 2026 with a weak .204/.254/.345 slash line, career-worst .599 OPS, nine home runs, 26 RBI, 22 runs scored, 12 walks, and 49 strikeouts in 256 plate appearances over his 61 games played. Additionally, he's hitting .190 with a .428 career OPS and just one RBI in 21 at-bats versus Eovaldi. Fantasy managers may want to keep Perez on their benches, even though he's back from injury. In 16 games since May 18, Perez has gone 12-for-59 (.203) with two homers, a double, six RBI, five runs, five walks, and eight K's.
Source: MLB.com
Source: MLB.com
Salvador Perez Out With Thumb Injury
Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez (thumb) is sitting out of Sunday's game against the division-rival Minnesota Twins for the second straight day as he deals with a right-thumb injury that he suffered on a wild pitch that hit him on Friday, according to Anne Rogers of MLB.com. Perez is dealing with some swelling in his thumb, but the Royals are hopeful that he'll be feeling back to normal by Tuesday's contest against the Texas Rangers, according to manager Matt Quatraro. Carter Jensen is doing the catching on Sunday for left-hander Noah Cameron and will bat eighth against Twins rookie Connor Prielipp. Perez, 36, is starting to slow down offensively in his 15th year in the big leagues. The nine-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger winner enters Sunday's action batting just .204 (48-for-235) with nine home runs, 26 RBI, and 22 runs scored, and durability will likely continue to be an issue as he nears the end of his amazing MLB career.
Source: MLB.com - Anne Rogers
Source: MLB.com - Anne Rogers
Carter Jensen Remains a Stash Option at Catcher
Kansas City Royals catcher Carter Jensen came into the season swinging a hot bat, but he has cooled off since then. Jensen has smashed six home runs with 17 RBI and 15 walks through his first 37 games this season. He has hit a cold spell recently, but could still be someone worth stashing in fantasy formats. Over the last two weeks, Jensen is 4-for-39 at the plate with one RBI and six walks. He's still showing good vision at the plate, so eventually his numbers should bounce back. It's tough to find a catcher who is both good defensively and offensively. Jensen has 20-homer upside that makes him worth stashing despite his recent struggles.
Source: Baseball Reference
Source: Baseball Reference
