KANSAS CITY -- Kauffman Stadium roared as Noah Cameron walked off the mound during what was likely his final home start of the 2025 season.
And what a season it’s been for the rookie left-hander.
The St. Joseph, Mo., native focused on his parents in the stands as he made his way to the dugout in the top of the seventh inning, closing another successful chapter of his breakout campaign in the Royals’ 2-1 win over the Blue Jays on Saturday night.
“It’ll never get old,” Cameron said of the ovation. “Hopefully, there is a lot more of those.”
With the way he’s pitched, there’s certainly more on the way in the years to come for Cameron in a Royals uniform. He lowered his ERA to 2.90 by holding first-place Toronto to just one run on three hits -- which came on a homer on his 98th and final pitch of the night.
“Obviously, super proud. It’s been really cool,” Cameron said of pitching in Kansas City. “It’s obviously been a dream to throw here, not just in the big leagues, to throw here in front of the crowd.
“... Mom was crying, of course. So it was cool just to get that standing ovation from the home crowd. It’s awesome. I just really appreciate all the fans and everybody, it’s been really cool. A lot more to come.”
The ovation was well deserved for the 26-year-old American League Rookie of the Year candidate. Cameron is the first Royals rookie since Brian Bannister (2007) to log three straight starts of 6 2/3 innings and two fewer runs.
Cameron’s nine wins trail only the Cubs’ Cade Horton (11) and the Orioles’ Tomoyuki Sugano (10) for most by an MLB rookie this season. Cameron, ranked by MLB Pipeline as Kansas City’s No. 5 prospect at the time of his callup on April 30, has continued to impress his teammates in his first season -- which started by falling eight outs shy of a no-hitter in his MLB debut.
Cameron’s composure on the mound has impressed his manager the most, and that was clearly evident on Saturday, when the Blue Jays’ leadoff hitter reached base in the second, fourth and fifth innings, just for all to be stranded at first base.
“That’s one of the things we said all along. He has a nice balance, right?” manager Matt Quatraro said of Cameron’s stature. “He’s very confident in himself, but it’s not in a boastful way. He knows he has to continue to get better and he has things to work on, but at the same time, he believes in himself and that goes a long way.”
The Royals believe in him, too, trusting him to face a playoff-bound squad’s lineup for the third time in the sixth and seventh innings while holding just a two-run lead. Quatraro noted Cameron’s pitch mix to hitters such as George Springer in the third at-bat, getting outs by having the ability to give different looks even late in the game.
“It’s special the way he’s been competing -- just every time he toes the rubber -- just going after hitters and competing,” Bobby Witt Jr. said. “He’s a rookie, but he’s got that veteran presence out there. So it’s been a lot of fun to play defense behind him, watch him do it and just get better every time he goes out there.”
Witt and Vinnie Pasquantino provided all the run support Cameron needed to keep the Royals’ slim playoff chances alive with back-to-back homers in the fourth inning. Outside of that, Kansas City was held to just two hits, but John Schreiber, Taylor Clarke and Carlos Estévez -- picking up his 41st save -- closed out the series victory.
“If that doesn’t show you something, then I got nothing for you,” Pasquantino said of the Royals’ fight. “We’re not out of it, right? We do know the odds. Just be realistic about it, right? And we’re fighting. And we’re scratching and we’re clawing, because we’re still trying to get in this thing. There’s no quitting this team. And if anybody thought that there was, these last few days have proven those people wrong.
“We’ve still got seven more guaranteed, and we’re going to go give everything we got for those. That’s all we can do. That’s why we’re here.”
Cameron’s 10th quality start of the season paved the way for that win, staving off elimination another day. And the Royals’ crowd applauded him for it.
“Well, I noticed it. I was out there, we were talking on the mound, talking with Salvy, but you could definitely hear it,” Quatraro said of the ovation. “It’s really cool. Obviously, a guy that’s from here, that gives a little extra juice to the story and to the effectiveness -- and it’s fun, too.”