Breakout Royals hurler cracks Baseball America's All-Rookie team

No one was particularly surprised when starting pitcher Noah Cameron didn't make the Kansas City Royals' 2025 Opening Day roster. His first foray into the world of big league spring training had gone fairly well — he struck out seven and walked only, and surrendered four runs in 10 innings — but with only nine Triple-A starts to his credit, the club's seventh-round 2021 draft pick was destined to start the season back in Omaha.

But his stay with the Storm Chasers didn't last long. The promising lefty was cruising with a 3.22 ERA and 3-0 record in five starts for them when the Royals, needing a spot start from someone with Cole Ragans ailing, called him up to take Ragans' turn against Tampa Bay.

Cameron didn't disappoint and gave the club and its fans quite a show. Despite walking five, he no-hit the Rays for six innings before Curtis Mead nicked him for a single in the seventh. That was all for the rookie, who took his first major league win back to Omaha when KC returned him there the next day. But he was back in The Show when the Royals needed rotation help a couple of weeks later.

He hasn't looked back ... and may never do so again. In a season when a slew of injuries hit the club's rotation so hard, Cameron came through and assured himself of winning at least the team's rookie of the year honors. And now, he's earned major postseason recognition — Baseball America just named him to it's MLB All-Rookie Team for 2025:

The fete, probably just the first of many Cameron will collect before his career winds up somewhere well down the road, is certainly deserved.

Noah Cameron had an excellent rookie season for the Royals

And that's an understatement. Utilizing an effective repertoire, Cameron finished the campaign with a 2.99 ERA and 9-7 record in 24 starts. Although his 7.42 K/9 and 20.5% K% suggest he wasn't always overwhelming, his control was fine (2.80 BB/9), and his 1.10 WHIP and .214 average to which he limited opponents were the lowest among regular Royal starters.

Cameron also posted 10 quality starts, and that he worked 138.1 innings isn't bad for a starter who pitched in the majors only four times over the season's first two months.

Without question, Cameron headed into the offseason knowing he'll be a member of the 2026 Kansas City rotation. As we've suggested in this space before, whether he's the rota's future remains to be seen — one partial season in the majors isn't a sufficient basis to definitively support such a conclusion — but his talent and potential are beyond dispute.