Prospects Cameron, Avila and Cerantola among camp cuts
Anne Rogers
@anne__rogersSURPRISE, Ariz. -- The Royals have been trimming down their camp roster over the past week, and a notable wave came Sunday and Monday when pitching prospects Noah Cameron (No. 5 on the Royals¡¯ Top 30 list), Luinder Avila (No. 19) and Eric Cerantola (No. 28) were all optioned to Triple-A Omaha and reassigned to Minor League camp.
Along with those three pitchers, who had all been added to the 40-man roster this past offseason, the Royals optioned outfielder Tyler Gentry (No. 25) to Triple-A, and he will head to Minor League camp this week. Non-roster pitchers Anthony Simonelli and Junior Fernandez, as well as catcher Kyle Hayes, were reassigned to Minor League camp on Monday.
There are now 52 players in Major League camp.
In his first big league camp, Cameron showed why the Royals were quick to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft this offseason and view him as an important piece of their depth this year. The St. Joseph, Mo., native allowed four earned runs in 10 innings with just one walk and seven strikeouts in four Cactus League appearances (one start). He¡¯ll head to Triple-A at the beginning of the season trying to build on the 2.32 ERA he posted there in nine starts at the end of 2024.
It¡¯s a matter of when, not if, Cameron makes his debut for Kansas City this season.
¡°He was really impressive, first and foremost,¡± manager Matt Quatraro said. ¡°His poise, delivery, stuff, command, all those things were outstanding. He could not have had a better camp. Fortunately for us right now, with pitchers being healthy and guys that are established big leaguers, he¡¯s going to have to wait his turn, so to speak.
¡°But we¡¯re really excited about what we saw. And you know how this goes. It could be a moment¡¯s notice that we need him and need him to help us win.¡±
Cameron was solid in three innings Sunday, allowing one unearned run with two strikeouts. He¡¯s always been a strike-thrower in his Minor League career, and that didn¡¯t waver when he got on the mound in front of big league coaches.
¡°It¡¯s definitely helped, for sure,¡± Cameron said Sunday. ¡°Just being around everybody and having the locker room atmosphere. Whenever [my debut] comes, just having relationships with these guys takes all the stress off of you a little bit. Just having confidence in me, knowing that whenever I do go up or whatever that looks like, knowing that I deserve to be there and can help the team win.¡±
Avila also left a good impression, only allowing one run in six innings over three Cactus League games. The 23-year-old only made it to Triple-A for one start at the end of ¡®24, so he needs more development time there, but the Royals could look at him as a versatile arm for them later this year, perhaps in the bullpen. He was amped up in his first spring appearance on Feb. 24, when he was hitting 99 mph on the radar gun. That kind of stuff would certainly help Kansas City as long as he can command it.
"He's physical, he has great composure, and he was a sponge with learning from not only the coaches but the other players," Quatraro said. "... Hopefully that development's quick for him. He's got a power arm. You could see him in the back end [of the bullpen], but you can also see him as a really good starter."
Cerantola had a wonky start to his camp, dealing with minor back stiffness that slowed him and then sickness that delayed him getting into a Cactus League game until March 2. But he didn¡¯t allow a run in two innings (two appearances). He¡¯ll head to Omaha -- where he only logged 14 1/3 innings at the end of last year -- for the regular season to familiarize himself with strictly relieving.
¡°He¡¯s got a huge arm, a really good breaking ball, and he profiles as a high-leverage back-end reliever,¡± Quatraro said. ¡°So we just need him to pitch. He had a little taste of Triple-A last year, but now it¡¯s time to get in, learn all the other stuff about being available every day, going back to back, those kinds of things.¡±
Gentry made his big league debut last year and is considered part of the Royals¡¯ outfield depth again in 2025. He went 5-for-15 in nine Cactus League games this spring, with one homer and five strikeouts.