Noah Cameron was a local product when the Royals drafted him in 2021. Born in St. Joseph, Missouri, Cameron attended St. Joseph Central High School. He would go on to be selected by the team in the seventh round of the 2021 MLB Draft. As a Royals fan growing up, it was truly the best-case scenario for Cameron when he got the call from the Royals on day two of the MLB Draft. “Obviously it’s a dream, for sure,” Cameron said of being selected by his hometown team.
It provides Cameron a unique opportunity should he reach the big leagues with Kansas City. It would allow him and his young family — Noah and his wife Casey welcomed their son back in September — to maintain those local roots once he reaches The Show. “I think it’ll hit me down the road, hopefully when I get there. It’s awesome just growing up as a fan, and loving the organization as a whole for as long as I can remember.”
Even into college, Cameron was fairly local. After St. Joseph, he moved on to the University of Central Arkansas. Many of his fans from those University days can continue to follow his career through the minor leagues. Springdale — the home of the Northwest Arkansas Naturals — is just two hours northwest of Conway, Arkansas. The path hasn’t always been easy, however. Cameron suffered an injury while pitching in the Northwoods League in the summer of 2020. That year, of course, the college season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
How an injury led Noah Cameron to the Royals and impacted his early pro career
The injury would end Cameron’s college baseball career, but wasn’t expected. “They kind of call it, like, the golden time frame,” Cameron spoke of the time post-injury. “Obviously stunk that I got hurt, but I got hurt at the right time, where I would miss one season. Then I would be back healthy for that fall going into the next season. The plan was to go back to college because I got hurt, now I can’t get drafted. That’s kind of what we were thinking.”
The Royals took the chance on Cameron. Tommy John surgery caused him to fall in the draft until pick 199 when Kansas City made the call. Had he not suffered that injury, he’d almost certainly have been taken earlier. In his four starts prior to the 2020 season being canceled, Cameron had pitched to an impressive 2.57 ERA for Central Arkansas. He struck out 31 batters in 28.0 innings pitched and walked just two. The rehab was a journey and it wasn’t easy to be away from the team. “It was tough because I knew I was going to be the Friday night guy. I knew that I was one of the captains on the team,” Cameron remembered.
Instead, he would spend that junior season feeling he had let the team down. Although he could have focused on recovery alone, instead, Cameron did whatever he could to help his team. He asked his head coaches to help in any way he could. He would find ways to be around the field any way he could. From charting for practices to holding radar guns, Cameron found any way he could to stay involved with his teammates and remain a key part of the team. “I’d rather be doing it than somebody else that could be practicing.” The tough year paid off for Cameron and led him to the pros, but it’s still been a journey back.
After a slow introduction to the Minor Leagues, Cameron is ready to roll in 2024
Noah Cameron didn’t pitch at all in the Kansas City farm system after being drafted in 2021. He was, of course, still working his way back from Surgery. His debut in 2022 saw him make 19 starts across three levels. Over those 65.2 innings pitched, he owned a 3.56 ERA. Cameron started opening night for the Fireflies that season. “It was definitely validating,” Cameron said of that first start. “All this work that I’ve put in and all this time — it had been really since surgery.”
In all, Cameron spent 18 months between his injury in August 2020 to that Opening Day start in 2022 for Columbia. It was validating after that journey that the organization believed in him enough to give him that chance. That first professional season was a “getting the feet wet” of sorts for Cameron, but he still flashed the tools that made him a day two draft pick in the first place. He struck out 99 hitters in 65.2 IP. His SO/BB mark was 6.19. That mix of strikeout stuff with great command is what makes Cameron such a promising prospect for the Royals.
Cameron returned to Quad Cities to start his 2023 season and quickly made noise as one of the best starters in the entire system. Over seven starts for the River Bandits, Cameron pitched in 35.0 innings. He struck out 58 hitters and walked just nine. That strong showing led the Royals to promote Cameron fairly early to Northwest Arkansas. His first start for the Naturals was fantastic. He faced off against the Tulsa Drillers — the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Double-A affiliate. That night Cameron pitched seven scoreless innings. He allowed just three hits, walked one, and struck out six. It was just another bit of validation that Cameron belonged and was well on his way to becoming a big leaguer someday.
Cameron enters 2024 free of limitations and ready to apply new learnings
Things got a little tougher for Cameron after that initial strong start. In all, he made 17 starts for the Naturals in 2023. He finished his season with a 6.10 ERA. The command was still there but a bit worse — he walked 3.2 hitters per nine innings. However, the season’s plan was built on allowing him to work up to a full workload. Cameron took 18 days off from June 10 to June 28. That plan was designed by the organization before the season to allow him to continue easing back into full speed.
“That was kind of planned,” Cameron said of the time off mid-summer. “I had only thrown 65 innings the year before. [The Royals] were like, ‘Hey, we’re not going to let you loose.’ It’s smart to increase [your innings] percentage-wise.” That plan paid off. The goal before the season was to pitch 100 innings and he finished his year at 107.1. Entering 2024 he’s free of limitations and ready to apply some learnings from the year prior.
The focuses this offseason for Cameron have included working on his velocity and adding a fourth pitch to his arsenal. Historically, he’s relied on a changeup — his best pitch — a strong curveball, and a four-seam fastball. To start the year in 2023, he sat 93-96 mph with the heater. By midseason, he was pitching more in the low 90s around 89-91 mph. Cameron talked about that inconsistency and his goals for the season ahead. “I guess I was just a little inconsistent with the velocity. Whether that was fatigue or mechanical stuff. Confidence-wise, [I was in] Double-A facing some adversity. That’s a big focus for this next year.”
Cameron hopes to have confidence in his stuff. The Royals have told him that a 90-92 mph velocity will make it a lot harder to be a big leaguer. If he can sit in the mid-90s consistently, he’s already there. For that reason, the focus this year has been on building that velocity back up with consistency. Beyond that, Cameron has also worked on adding a cutter this offseason. Double-A hitters learned to wait on the changeup or just let it go by at times — something he hadn’t faced as much in the lower minors. For that reason, it’s been important for the lefty to add a fourth pitch to keep hitters more off-balance and give him more options each outing. He’s worked on a cutter this offseason that will give him something to move in on a right-handed hitter. It also gives more east-west movement in his pitch mix.
Cameron becomes part of a strong group of young starters moving through the system together
In 2023, Cameron started the season in Quad Cities alongside fellow prospects Chandler Champlain and Mason Barnett. By the end of the year, all three had moved to Double-A. That trio has become a close-knit group. They’ve built a great bond in their time together and that bond has helped to make the transition through the minors all that much easier. I asked Cameron how that transition has impacted him over the last year.
“It’s a ton of fun,” Cameron said. “Us three, we hang out every day. We love competing with each other, we love practicing with each other, working on pitches together.” The three play golf together as well. That close-knit bond among prospects shouldn’t be discounted. The 2015 Championship team had a similar experience and it built that clubhouse into a winner. Salvador Perez, Lorenzo Cain, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Danny Duffy, and others all came through the farm system together. Once they reached the majors, they had a close bond already and that familiarity made the team that much better because of it.
Barnett — last year’s Paul Splittorff Pitcher of the Year — and Champlain both rank as top prospects in the system as well. MLB Pipeline’s 2024 list should drop soon, but by the end of 2023, all three ranked in the organization’s top 20 prospects. The Royals have spent on pitching this offseason, but mostly on short-term deals. Those short contracts should allow the team to continue moving their trio of arms through the minor leagues together. It should also allow rotation spots to open up for the three once they’re ready for The Show.
For Cameron, he should get a chance to start the year back in Northwest Arkansas once again. Much like last year, the goal will be to quickly move his way up a level. Barnett and Champlain have both been invited to Spring Training but likely will start their year alongside Cameron in Springdale. Don’t be surprised to see Cameron fly out of the gate thanks to improved velocity and a refined pitch mix. He offers some of the very best command in the entire farm system and could be in Kansas City much sooner than you think.
