The Kansas City Royals have remained in the American League Wild Card hunt despite hitting a few rough patches earlier this season. At 70-67, they are just 2 1/2 games behind the Seattle Mariners for the final spot, though the red-hot Texas Rangers have overtaken them in the standings. Kansas City is shooting for two straight years in the postseason after winning 86 games in 2024 and taking the second Wild Card spot.
This year, they have witnessed several players take some very important steps forward. Maikel Garcia was an All-Star for the first time, and left-hander Noah Cameron has emerged as one of their top starting pitchers.
When listing all 30 Major League teams’ best rookies, Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report had Cameron as the best one for the Royals.
“Noah Cameron made his MLB debut on April 30 and kicked off his big league career with a bang, rattling off five straight quality starts while logging a 0.85 ERA in 31.2 innings.
His performance was inevitably going to level off after that red-hot start, but he has settled in as a rock-solid MLB starter, pitching to a 3.77 ERA in 76.1 innings in his next 14 starts,” Reuter wrote.
“With Cole Ragans and Kris Bubic both missing time to injury, his emergence as a reliable option behind Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha has been invaluable for a team still fighting for a wild-card berth.”
In 19 starts this season, the 26-year-old left-hander is 7-6 with a 2.92 ERA over 108 innings of work and has posted a 3.1 WAR. He also has struck out 83 batters and posted a 1.093 WHIP. He has been instrumental in the Royals success this year and has helped the rotation remain a strength, even with Ragans and Bubic getting hurt and Lugo struggling late in the season.
Cameron was drafted in the seventh round in 2021 out of the University of Central Arkansas. He has burst onto the scene and proven to be one of the Royals most consistent starting pitchers, and he could very well be a candidate to start Game 1 of a playoff series should the Royals sneak in as a Wild Card team.
It will certainly be interesting to see if they can ride Cameron’s arm to October and secure their second straight Wild Card berth.
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