Royals emerging arm can erase lackluster spring training with strong opening start

The Kansas City Royals are riding some winning momentum at the moment after a painful opening pair of games to start the 2026 season.

They salvaged their road series against the Atlanta Braves thanks to a Seth Lugo masterclass and then Kris Bubic looked just as strong as he did in his All-Star campaign a year ago to get the Royals first winnings streak of the year started on Monday against the Minnesota Twins.

That leaves just one arm left to pitch in the Royals starting staff, Noah Cameron. And after a rough spring training, there very well could be a bit of worry amongst the Royals faithful that he may not be able to replicate he's sensational rookie season.

However, a strong first start to the 2026 season at home against the lowly Twins could work to erase any potential doubt that spring training might've brought on.

Noah Cameron has plenty of pressure on him to start the 2026 season

Cameron may've landed the Royals fifth spot in the rotation, but he didn't exactly earn it this spring.

In 16.0 innings across five Cactus League outings Cameron only mustered a 6.19 ERA, 6.84 FIP, 1.75 WHIP and .343 BAA. He was never a strikeout artist, but he was over 1.20 K/9 lower this spring than he was in his standout rookie year.

Now, too much weight can't be put on spring training, but with plenty of competition behind him ready to step in, there's certainly pressure for him to perform right off the hop.

Other than a bad outing towards the end of his spring campaign, Ryan Bergert was right in the hunt for that fifth starter role and he looked great in his first start in Omaha.

Then, there's Luinder Avila, who has loads of promise and demonstrated that in the biggest global stage on the World Baseball Classic with Venezuela, Mason Black, who didn't surrender a single earned run in spring and Stephen Kolek, who has a revamped arsenal ready to go when healthy.

Given he just missed out on a finalist spot in last season's AL Rookie of the Year voting, there's reason to believe that Cameron's earned a bit of leeway to start this season. But there's a ton of depth behind him with major league experience and with options still left, he could very well still find his way in Omaha if he can't hit the ground running.

But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves, Cameron still has to start his first game on Wednesday against the Twins before anyone can even start to make conclusions. First pitch of Game 2 at Kauffman Stadium is at 6:40 p.m. CT.