Balance at Catcher: What Is The Ideal Split For Salvador Perez & Carter Jensen?

Early in the season, Salvador Perez was effectively splitting time behind the plate with Freddy Fermin. Once Fermin was traded to the Padres at the trade deadline, Perez was forced into starting more often, catching 20 of the 28 games in August with Luke Maile offering some relief. After Carter Jensen joined the roster in September, Perez finally was able to get more time off, only catching 15 of the remaining 25 games of the season, which was still more often than the start of the season but a notable reduction compared to August.

From June through the end of the season, there was a clear inverse relationship between how often Perez started as catcher and his offensive production.

Entering his age-35 season, Perez can still be a positive contributor on offense, but his time at the catcher position will need to be limited. Entering the season, Carter Jensen is projected to be the only depth at catcher on the MLB roster. While Perez’s innings will need to be limited on defense, Jensen also might not be quite ready to assume a large workload as catcher. What is the ideal balance going to be in 2026?

Historically, catchers will often begin to see reduced time behind the plate after age 32, and most catchers will even be retired by age 35. Comparing Perez to his contemporaries, dating back to his age-21 season, he usually outpaces other catchers in usage rate (ages 36+ averages are heavily skewed by Yadier Molina). Father time remains undefeated; the Royals need to be prepared rather than reacting if Perez’s abilities fall off a cliff.

Despite his five Gold Glove awards, the Statcast metrics do not flatter Perez. He has been worth -37 catching runs total since 2018, primarily driven by well-below-average pitch framing. His catcher throwing metrics remain good, ranking 8th in caught stealing and above average, with 4 CS. He also ranked 16th out of 70 catchers (minimum 10 caught-stealing attempts) in average pop time.

However, the biggest sign of aging in his abilities is his blocking. Last season, his blocking generated -15 blocks above average, 12 worse than his career low. 

For Carter Jensen’s catching ability, there isn't yet much data. In his 67 innings at the position, he logged zero catching runs and -1 catching runs for blocking. He also caught one baserunner stealing out of 3 attempts. His pop time was the 7th fastest for all catchers who faced at least one stolen base attempt. With a larger sample size, we will be able to determine more about how valuable he truly is on defense. With the addition of the automatic ball-strike challenge system, there will be a whole new metric by which to judge catchers. The catchers will likely be the main players on defense who are responsible for challenging calls, and experience behind the plate will likely matter with these calls.

Offensively, Jensen looks to already belong at the MLB level. In his 69 plate appearances with the Royals last season, he slashed .300/.391/.550, good for a .941 OPS and a 159 wRC+. His statcast metrics also ranked highly above average in his small 2025 sample, particularly xwOBA, xBA, xSLG, average exit velocity, barrel %, hard-hit %, launch angle sweet-spot %, and walk rate. He will probably not be able to maintain those rates, but Fangraphs projects him to continue to bat above average, with a wRC+ of 104. The Royals would be more than satisfied if Jensen could meet that projection. With those bullish projections, when he is not starting a game as the catcher, he will be a natural candidate for designated hitter.

Going into next season, Perez is still expected to start the majority of games at catcher. Still, the Royals should be mindful of his workload following the 2026 World Baseball Classic, where Perez is captaining the Venezuelan team. Perez's missing time with his national team will give Jensen the opportunity to spend more time directly with the pitching staff and get “first team” reps at catcher during spring training.

If Jensen can maintain his quality on offense, manager Matt Quatraro will hopefully feel less hesitant about trusting him in the lineup. At the start of the season, while Perez is reacclimating to the team and resting after the WBC, Jensen could have a tremendous opportunity to claim more starting time.

The absolute maximum Perez should catch is a model similar to what the Royals have done in past seasons: Perez catches games one and two, then rests game three of a three-game series. This should probably only be the case when Jensen is slumping. Ideally, at this stage in his career, Perez is starting less than half of the games behind the plate, and given his regression defensively, the Royals would probably benefit from giving him more time off. There will also be plenty of opportunities for Perez to remain in the lineup at designated hitter, as the Royals do not currently have a player as a primary DH. He can also spend time at first base when Vinnie Pasquantino needs rest. Perez is still likely to be a primary contributor in this Royals offense, with a projected wRC+ of 101, 8th-best on the Royals according to FanGraphs Steamer projections. Still, as his knees and body age, he should not spend the majority of his time behind the plate. The Royals will hope to retain his offensive value as long as possible.