Royals standout hurler was a casualty of wildly talented AL Rookie of the Year field

When the 2025 season ended, Kansas City Royals were obviously disappointed in the overall outcome that came. However, if they weren't going to return to the postseason a least they had some hope for some players receiving award recognition.

While they opened the award season with tons of promise - with the three Gold Glove nominations (two of which won) and four Silver Slugger nominations - many eyes were on the coveted BBWAA awards and the Royals who seemed poised to be among those in the final running for some prestigious honors.

But Monday's announcement was certainly not what Royals fans would've hoped for as their two best shots at seeing a member of their squad come home with some individual hardware were immediately dashed.

Bobby Witt Jr. surprisingly was not among the finalists for AL MVP this season and Noah Cameron missed out on a top three finish for AL Rookie of the Year.

While Witt's MVP omission is a little harder to understand, Cameron falling short of being an ROY finalist is disappointing, but not an utter shock. You simply have to chalk it up to an first-year field crowded with talent.

Strong AL rookie class is the reason Noah Cameron won't win AL ROY in 2025

Statistically, Cameron didn't do anything wrong to leave himself outside of the finalist field, as the 26-year-old was nothing short of a godsend for this Royals rotations.

In fact, he was considered right in the mix late into the season, with some publications, like ESPN, placing him firmly within the top five contenders late into the season.

After bursting onto the scene with a near no-hit bid in his first career start, Cameron crafted a 2.99 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and .214 BAA in 138.1 innings across 24 starts.

But for as great as his stats look, there's some question of whether he dominated the scene quite like other rookies did in their debut campaigns this season.

His sub-3.00 ERA is certainly impressive, but when paired with a 4.18 FIP, there's always going to be the argument that he got somewhat lucky at point this season.

Then there's the fact that he wasn't a dominant swing-and-miss arm by any means, posting a 7.42 K/9 and landing in the 33rd percentile in K-rate this year. Strikeouts aren't the be-all-end-all for being a successful MLB pitcher, however in an era defined by stars like Paul Skenes, Tarik Skubal and Garrett Crochet, a bit of flashy strikeout dominance makes a lasting impression.

Cameron's numbers were good, but he just didn't seem to dominate his role in a way that the three candiates did.

Anyone other than Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz winning this award would be surprising. The 22-year-old phenom teetered on being a .300 hitter (hitting for a .290 AVG) while 36 homers and driving in 86.

For further context, among hitters with at least 450 plate appearances this year, only Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani posted higher OPS and wRC+ totals than Kurtz.

Then there's Roman Anthony, who may've been in the majors later some baseball fans would've wanted, but he hit the ground running once he got his opportunity, showcasing an immense understanding of major league hitting by approaching a .300 AVG (.292) while sporting a near-.400 OBP (.396) - thanks to a 13.2% walk rate - and an ability to hit the ball extremely hard with a 60.3% hard-hit rate.

This all culminated in a 140 wRC+, placing him within the Top 15 for MLB hitters with 300+ plate appearances.

Pair that with excellent outfield defense defined by 7 DRS and 6 OAA in the corners and he already looks to be one of the league's brightest young all-around stars for years to come.

Then there's Jacob Wilson, who seemed like Cameron's best shot to finish higher than and land a finalist nod. However, Wilson was not only an All-Star this season, but the starting shortstop for the American League in the Midsummer Classic.

His All-Star campaign was defined by fantastic contact abilities saw him finish with a .311 AVG and sit second in all of baseball among hitters with 500+ plate appearances in K-rate with an immaculate 7.5% strikeout rate.

It's always going to be harder for pitchers to finish above hitters in awards that combine them with position players - sheerly due to amount of games position players appear in during a season, which already put Cameron at a disadvantage.

However, this is no reason to discount what Cameron did this season, as it was truly a remarkable showing that gives the Royals a strong arm to build their rotation's future around.

He simply fell victim to an exceptionally strong rookie class this season, which is unfortunate but nothing to be ashamed of.