The Kansas City Royals have four veterans in front of second-year hurler Noah Cameron in the starting rotation, and his lack of experience has shown thus far. The southpaw is 2-2 with a 5.40 ERA over six starts after Thursday's 6-3 loss to the Athletics, which is the worst ERA in the Royals' rotation right now.

Cameron allowed five runs (four earned) on nine hits over 5.1 innings to go with five strikeouts against two walks on Thursday. The 6-foot-3, 220-pounder coughed up all five runs across the first two innings, and Kansas City's offense couldn't match that output.

Cameron has not been the same player he was as a rookie last year. The Missouri native went 9-7 with a 2.99 ERA over 24 starts, which showed why he was the organization's No. 5 prospect, per MLB Pipeline.

Cameron has had flashes of his rookie production this year, as he started this season with two one-run outings, with the first one lasting five innings and the second 5.2. The 2021 seventh-round draft pick also allowed three runs over 6.1 frames in a 6-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels on April 24, but he's given up four-plus earned runs in each of his other three starts.

Meanwhile, fellow starting pitchers Michael Wacha (2-2, 3.13 ERA), Seth Lugo (1-1, 2.63 ERA), and Kris Bubic (2-1, 3.74 ERA) have all been more reliable The only other one who has struggled similarly to Cameron is southpaw Cole Ragans (1-4, 5.00 ERA).

There's plenty of time for Cameron to turn it around, but he's partly why the Royals are last in the AL Central at 12-19.

Kansas City showed life after starting the season 9-17, as it swept the Los Angeles Angels from April 24 to Sunday. The club scored 29 runs over three games, including a 12-1 victory on Saturday.

However, the Royals then tallied just nine runs over three contests against the Athletics, with four of them in Tuesday's 4-1 win. That game was tied 1-1 until star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. hit a three-run homer in the top of the 10th inning. They then lost 5-2 on Wednesday before Thursday's defeat. 

Up next is a road series against the Seattle Mariners on Friday, who are 16-16 and have won each of their last two series. Friday's game will start at 9:45 p.m. ET, and Ragans will start against right-hander Bryan Woo (1-2, 3.86 ERA).