SURPRISE, Ariz. -- In a live batting-practice session on a back field, the stakes are low, especially this early in spring. Pitchers are getting a feel for their stuff again, while hitters are working on timing. The atmosphere is relaxed. You can’t read into the results.
Throw that all out the window for a second as you consider the scene that unfolded on Field 4 of the Royals’ spring complex on Wednesday afternoon.
Pitcher Ben Kudrna and catcher Carter Jensen, two top Royals prospects -- at No. 3 and No. 5 on last year’s Top 30 list -- teamed up as the battery for Kudrna’s live BP. Both are from Kansas City and were 2021 draftees, with Kudrna selected out of Blue Valley Southwest High School in the second round and Jensen a round later out of Park Hill High School.
Here they are now in big league camp, Kudrna’s first and Jensen’s second, having both reached Double-A Northwest Arkansas in 2024 with dreams of playing for their hometown team one day.
Into the box on Wednesday steps Salvador Perez.
He’s a Kansas City legend, a World Series MVP and the Royals' captain. He also happens to be one of the players both Jensen and Kudrna grew up watching as huge Royals fans.
Kudrna was an 11-year-old in the stands at Kauffman Stadium for the 2014 American League Wild Card Game vs. the A's and watched Perez collect the game-winning hit. In ‘15, he attended one of the AL Division Series games against the Astros. The rest of the postseason, he watched on his phone as his middle school’s football manager at practices. Jensen went to a World Series game in '14.
“They’re that young?” Perez said incredulously on Thursday morning. “Wow, that makes me feel old. Oh my goodness.”
Kudrna called facing Perez on the back fields Wednesday one of the coolest moments of his life and admitted there were some nerves as he ran out onto the mound. But it all went away when he started pitching.
“The nerves are normal for the first time,” Perez said. “It’s good they feel that way. That’s how you know you love the game. You want to do your job right. I don’t call it nervous. I call it excitement. No one should be nervous or scared to face anyone in here. Just excited. It’s cool they are both from Kansas City.”
Kudrna threw Perez all his pitches and had some tough ones fouled off. He also thought he may have gotten a strike on a backdoor changeup, but the Trackman operators called it a ball. All in all, it was a good battle for two at-bats.
“Very few people get to do something like this,” Kudrna said. “That’s what made it cool. You’ll get people saying, ‘What’s so special about a back-field game?’ But it’s special. It’s something I can tell people for the rest of my life. When you grow up and you’re a fan of a team, you learn the culture of it and you get inspired, and then turn the page 15 years later and it’s your job to do that for others.”
Both Kudrna and Jensen understood the full-circle moment they had on the field yesterday, and they hope it leads to more as they get closer to Kansas City.
“Kansas City is all I’ve ever known,” Jensen said. “Baseball being my favorite sport growing up and the one I was always the best at, being part of this organization and hopefully making my debut at some point -- it’s hard to put into words how much it means. I understand the work is just getting started.”
Wright’s setback
Kyle Wright suffered a mild right hamstring strain when he was throwing earlier this week, which will set back his progression. The veteran right-hander is making a return from right shoulder surgery in November 2023, which caused him to miss the entire 2024 season. He was ramping up the intensity of his bullpen sessions at the start of camp and was looking forward to facing hitters for the first time sometime soon, but now that’s delayed.
Wright will continue to play catch and keep his arm in shape, while the Royals plan on re-evaluating the situation next week. How much he’ll be able to build up after this is to be determined; Wright was considered part of the rotation mix at the start of camp.
“We’ve seen in the past where hamstrings take a long time, sometimes other guys bounce back more quickly,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “There’s no sense right now in putting a certain amount of setback time on it.”