Royals could go with opener ahead of Noah Cameron

It’s been a tale of two halves for Cameron as his remarkable second-half turnaround continued with a sublime effort against the Diamondbacks, scattering three hits and a pair of walks over six shutout frames. The 27-year-old southpaw has allowed two runs or fewer in seven of 10 starts since the All-Star break, compiling a stellar 2.51 ERA and 54/19 K/BB ratio across 64 2/3 innings during that span. He’s ostensibly scaled back his four-seam fastball usage while leaning more heavily on a cutter, which appears to have helped him generate more swings and misses on his slider and changeup. He’ll aim to keep the momentum going when he wraps up a two-start week with a tough road matchup against the Red Sox at historic Fenway Park on Sunday.

Cameron had a decent start here, but lost his command in certain spots and had no answers for Kyle Stowers. His single in the first inning brought home the Marlins second run of the game before Cameron had recorded an out. It felt like that inning could’ve turned into a true disaster after Cameron hit the first batter of the game then gave up a triple before Stowers drove in the second run. Then, Stowers homered again in the third. Otherwise, it was mostly smooth sailing for Cameron who had his swing-and-miss stuff working forcing 16 total whiffs. Nine of those came from his slider and changeup and all six of his pitches earned at least one. He’s a different pitcher from the one we saw struggle throughout the first half and is set for a crucial two-start week coming up against the Diamondbacks and Red Sox.

Cameron struck out three batters on the night while issuing a pair of walks. The only damage done against him came on a two-run blast off the bat of George Springer in the sixth inning. Aside from that, the 27-year-old southpaw was brilliant. He got 11 whiffs on 81 offerings on the night, registering a strong CSW of 35 percent. He’ll look to replicate this fine effort as he brings a 3.98 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and a 131/48 K/BB ratio (149 1/3 innings) into Wednesday’s matchup against the Marlins.

The 27-year-old southpaw punched out two batters on the night. While the Tigers put traffic on the bases against him in four of his five innings, they never seriously threatened. Cameron got eight swings and misses on 85 pitches on the evening, posting a CSW of 20 percent. Now 8-8 on the season, he’ll try to further improve upon his 4.02 ERA and 1.21 WHIP (143 1/3 innings) when he does battle against the Blue Jays in Toronto on Thursday.

The only hit Cameron allowed was a single by Vaughn Grissom. The left-hander was outstanding while striking out eight, issuing just one walk and throwing 73-of-115 pitches for strikes. Cameron has now gone at least eight innings in three of his last four starts, a development no one could have seen coming based on his struggles for the majority of the year. A chance to do it again is scheduled for Friday against the Tigers.

Cameron generated 13 whiffs tonight but finished with only two strikeouts. His cutter was particularly ineffective; he threw it 22 times and gave up three hits while generating zero whiffs and only two called strikes. While others have had success lately in ramping up their fastball usage against the Dodgers, Cameron, who has experienced a velocity boost over the last month, threw four-seamers and sinkers only 21 times in the 101-pitch outing. Notably, he gave up zero hits on those pitches. Things will probably go better next time out against the Angels.

Cameron was simply masterful here. He mixed his changeup, slider, fastball, cutter, and curveball nearly evenly and all five of those pitches forced multiple swings-and-misses. His slider was especially lethal with seven whiffs of its own as he located beautifully running inside on right-handed batters. With that pitch and his cutter brushing righties back, changeups falling away from them on the outside, curveballs attacking their back foot, and elevated fastballs forcing them to respect the heat you could see how beautifully Cameron’s different pitches play off each other when everything’s clicking. And things are clicking lately as Cameron has allowed just one run over his last three starts spanning 23 innings with 24 strikeouts and six walks. He has a tall task up next though heading to Los Angeles to face the Dodgers before taking on the Angels in the second leg of a two-start week.

And he didn’t manage to win the game, somehow, because baseball’s funny like that. Cameron was through six innings with a no-hitter but allowed a dunk single in front of an outfielder to Ryan Jeffers. No matter, Cameron went right back to dominating as he got six straight outs to end his start. Like his start last week, Cameron showed a tick higher on his fastball (maxing at 94.9 mph) and managed a 33 percent whiff rate. Things have looked much better for him of late. He also gets the Twins again next week, so assuming Byron Buxton is still out, that should be another tasty matchup.

Unfortunately for Cameron, Beck Way opened and gave up two of the game’s three runs with Tarik Skubal lurking on the other side. Cameron struck out eight and looked as good as we’ve seen him all season, with a 40 percent whiff rate and his average velocity up a few ticks across the board. There’s not really a great reason to get excited about firing up Cameron against the Twins next week given how his season has gone, but maybe he’s turning a corner at the right time.

At least that’s better than the 12 runs the Royals gave up in four innings after Cameron departed. Cameron, who fanned 16 over 12 innings in his final two starts of the first half, struck out just one of the 26 batters he faced today. He’s given up at least five runs and taken a loss in four of his last five starts, leaving him 5-8 with a 5.27 ERA this season. Still, his rotation spot is most likely safe. He’ll face the Tigers next weekend.