Royals’ Noah Cameron is dark horse Rookie of Year candidate: Fox Sports broadcaster
Baseball fans of a certain age will remember when “Fernandomania” swept Major League Baseball in 1981.
Rookie pitcher Fernando Valenzuela had a 0.29 ERA through his first seven starts for the Dodgers that season, and was the toast of baseball.
Valenzuela’s name came up Wednesday following the Royals’ 3-2 win over the Reds. Royals rookie left-hander Noah Cameron allowed one run in 6 1/3 innings pitched, continuing his incredible stretch to start his big-league career.
The only other left-hander in MLB’s modern era to pitch at least six innings while allowing no more than one run in each of his first four career starts was Valenzuela, according to Opta Stats.
Fox Sports MLB reporter Ken Rosenthal and fellow broadcaster Alanna Rizzo this week discussed Cameron’s sensational start to his career on the Fair Territory podcast.
“Noah Cameron is a guy that is going to be really intriguing for them, because you don’t expect to go through a season with five starters, and we’ve seen that with the Royals,” Rosenthal said. “They’re not going through the season with five starters. They’ve needed help from Cameron, and here’s a guy that only reinforces their greatest strength.
“They need to find offense, whether it’s Jac Caglianone, who is tearing it up in the minors, or someone else in a trade. They’re 27th in the majors in runs per game. So while it’s great to see Cameron and what he’s doing, and great to see him enter the Rookie of the Year picture perhaps, they need to score more runs to be competitive in what has been a pretty good division so far.”
Rizzo noted that Pirates ace Paul Skenes is averaging 6 1/3 innings per start in his 12 outings this season.
Cameron also is averaging 6 1/3 innings per start with the Royals.
You may find the similarity a stretch, but not Rosenthal, who has covered baseball for more than three decades.
“That comparison is actually pretty good in my estimation, Alana, because yes, it’s only four starts, but it’s his first four starts,” Rosenthal said. “Nobody goes deep in games anymore, and this guy’s going into the seventh inning. And that’s what Skenes is doing on a regular basis. But to see a young pitcher come up and do that, to see him trained to do that by his organization, which is a rarity in itself, it’s impressive overall.”
The Royals have leaned on Cameron because of injuries to starters Seth Lugo and Cole Ragans, but both are about ready to return. That means Cameron soon could be heading back to Triple-A Omaha, so perhaps award talk at the major league level is premature.
Rizzo asked if it’s too soon to put Cameron in the AL Rookie of the Year race.
“Probably,” Rosenthal said. “You need to see more than four starts. And I don’t know how long he’ll be in the majors, how they’re going to use him, whether he’ll be up and down. But right now, Jacob Wilson of the A’s would be the front runner for Rookie of the Year. He’s had a tremendous start to his season. (The Yankees’) Jasson Dominguez has been very good himself, especially in May, but Cameron could come on.
“You never know, and certainly the Rookie of the Year races are often not decided until later, because guys don’t come up until this time of year in many cases. Paul Skeens was a good example. So let’s not rule out Noah Cameron. He is certainly entering the picture.”
Based on what Rosenthal said, let’s call Cameron a dark horse candidate at this point.
This story was originally published May 30, 2025 at 9:48 AM with the headline "Royals’ Noah Cameron is dark horse Rookie of Year candidate: Fox Sports broadcaster."
