It was Fan Appreciation Day on Saturday at Kauffman Stadium, and the Royals sent the crowd of 25,774 home happy with a 2-1 victory over the Blue Jays.
It was a much different game from the 21-run slugfest Royals fans saw on Friday night.
Both teams had four hits and left six runners on base. All three runs in the game (one for the Blue Jays; two for the Royals) came on solo home runs. Both teams also had their issues with runners in scoring position, as Toronto went 0-for-1 in RISP situations while Kansas City went 0-for-5.
And yet, it was the Royals who came out on top over the AL East division-leading Blue Jays on Saturday night. The win could be credited to two Royals who primarily stood out, each carrying the club in their respective areas in Kansas City’s one-run victory: Noah Cameron and Bobby Witt Jr.
Let’s break down what each player did and what their impact has meant to this ballclub in 2025.
A Cameron Classic at the K
In his final home start of 2025, the 26-year-old St. Joseph, Missouri, product was absolutely superb, once again. Over 6.2 innings of work and 98 pitches, Cameron allowed one run on three hits and two walks while striking out five.
His lone blemish on the evening was a solo home run given up to Daulton Varsho, who launched the ball over the center field wall in the seventh inning with two outs.
Cameron wasn’t able to complete the seventh, but he shut down a Blue Jays offense that ranks fourth in OPS and fifth in runs scored. Like many Cameron outings this season, he didn’t necessarily overwhelm Toronto hitters. He only posted a 23% CSW and 24% whiff rate. However, Cameron flooded the strike zone, mixed up his arsenal well, and limited productive contact, especially against key hitters.
George Springer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Alejandro Kirk, the Blue Jays’ 1st, 3rd, and 4th hitters in the lineup, only went 2-for-11 against the Royals, with Springer’s double being the only extra-base hit among the trio.
Furthermore, below is what Cameron produced on a stuff and strike-end, via his TJ Stats summary.
Cameron’s cutter was his most-utilized pitch on Saturday, as it had a 30.6% usage. In addition to being thrown the most, it was also the most effective. It sported a 102 TJ Stuff+ and 56 grade on Saturday and also had 66.7% zone and 40% chase rates. No other offering from Cameron had a grade over 50 or a zone rate over 60%.
What’s interesting about the cutter is that it didn’t generate a ton of whiff (15.8%), and it got hit pretty hard too (.511 xwOBACON). The same was true with his changeup, which had a 58.3% zone rate, but a .692 xwOBACON. He made it up with his four-seamer and curveball, however, as they sported .238 and .107 xwOBACON marks, respectively.
Here’s a look at Cameron’s pitch type and description charts from his latest outing, via Savant.
Cameron threw a lot of balls up and in the middle, especially cutters. However, as illustrated in the pitch description chart, Blue Jays hitters couldn’t square up on him. Many of those balls in the zone were either called strikes or foul balls. That shows Cameron had Toronto hitters off balance all evening, which resulted in a quality start for the 26-year-old lefty.
Saturday was just a reflection of the excellent year and approach that Cameron has demonstrated all season. His stuff this year hasn’t been eye-popping, but his control and command have been solid, thus resulting in solid overall metrics, as evidenced in his TJ Stats summary.
The 4.23 FIP suggests that Cameron could be due for some slight regression in 2026, much like we saw from Seth Lugo, who regressed in 2025 after a Cy Young runner-up campaign in 2024. Nonetheless, the Royals have an excellent middle-of-the-rotation starter in Cameron for not just next season, but for years to come.
Witt Continues to Do Big Things
It’s wild how Witt’s 2025 campaign has gone under the radar by most national media members.
Yes, I get Cal Raleigh and Aaron Judge have been producing better seasons on a fWAR end and are the two favorites for the AL MVP (and rightfully so). However, what Witt is doing this year shouldn’t be ignored, especially considering the history of the Royals.
In 654 plate appearances this year, Witt is slashing .293/.352/.503 with an .855 OPS. He has scored 96 runs, collected 82 RBI, stolen 37 bases, and produced an fWAR of 7.4. On Saturday, he also launched his 23rd home run of the year, an absolute tank off of former Cy Young winner Shane Bieber.
And yet, Witt isn’t getting attention this year because he’s not matching the historical numbers he produced a season ago.
He has nine fewer home runs, 27 fewer RBI, 29 fewer runs scored, and his OPS is down 122 points. Technically, it’s been a season of regression for Witt. Still, regression for Witt has resulted in a Top-5 MVP candidacy. That’s special to see, especially for the fanbase of a small-market team like the Royals.
When looking at his Statcast profile via TJ Stats, Witt still has been one of the best hitters in the league, especially when it comes to batted-ball quality and exit velocity.
His exit velocity metrics are insane. He ranks in the 96th percentile in average exit velocity and max exit velocity, and in the 93rd percentile in 90th percentile exit velocity. He also ranks in the 84th percentile in xwOBA, 77th percentile in barrel rate, and 87th percentile in hard-hit rate. And he’s doing this despite not pulling the ball much (14th percentile in pull% and 38th percentile in Pull Air%).
It’s not just hitting where Witt has succeeded this year.
His 19 fielding runs above average ranks first among all infielders, according to Savant. His 23 outs above average also rank first among all fielders, according to Savant. Witt should net another Gold Glove, and could be in the hunt for Platinum Glove consideration as well.
Tonight, he put on a nice clinic at shortstop, especially finishing a double play on a Kirk groundball that Michael Massey made a heck of a play initially on.
In addition to his fielding, Witt has continued to make things happen with his legs on the basepaths.
On what seemed to be a routine single, the Royals franchise player put on the jets and ended up stretching his base hit into a double. While it didn’t end up in a run (the Royals stranded him, a trend we have seen far too often), it showed the kind of gamer Witt is, still pushing himself in game 155, even with the Royals’ playoff odds slim to none at this point.
He won’t win an MVP award this season. He probably won’t finish in the Top-3 either, as Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez could slide into that slot due to the Guardians’ record, even though Ramirez lags behind Witt in terms of fWAR (Ramirez has a 5.9 mark).
Nonetheless, Royals fans should appreciate what Witt brings to the ballpark day in and day out for this club. When he’s on, he wills the Royals to wins, as was the case on Saturday.
It seems fitting that we saw Witt do that on Fan Appreciation night.
Photo Credit: Kevin O’Brien
Best help for Witt is to sign Bo Bichette to man 3b, moving Maikel to 2b, Massey/Gross to RF and Cags to LF. That leaves Ysbel at CF, Pasquantino at IB and Salvi and Jensen at C with Salvi increasingly a DH. This would result in a better lineup where Bichette could sub for an injured Witt, Maikel for Bichette and Massey for Maikel, with little drop off in performance. Bichette should be a Free-Agent target for us.
I would be interested to see if they will be in market for Bichette. I do think the Royals will plan to make a bigger splash this offseason, whether through a trade or free agency. I would hate to move Maikel because he may win a gold glove at 3B this year. I also wonder if Bichette wants to be a SS only at this point in his career. Other teams will offer him that ability and be comparable money-wise to what KC would offer. Regardless, I like the idea and think that’s the kind of move the Royals need to be thinking about this offseason.