Andrean graduate Cameron Nohos put his phone on “do not disturb” mode after the 2025 MLB draft ended July 14.
The 6-foot-8 right-hander wasn’t selected and didn’t want to talk to anyone about it.
“I didn’t even feel like talking to my family, which was very uncharacteristic of me,” he said.
But when Nohos reactivated his phone, a slew of notifications informed him that the San Diego Padres wanted to sign him as a free agent, and he quickly agreed to a contract.
“In a matter of 10 minutes, I went from being devastated to being unbelievably excited to be a Padre,” he said.
The emotional whiplash of that day is a microcosm of Nohos’ college career, which began at Division III Loras and continued at Division I Illinois-Chicago as the velocity on his fastball increased dramatically. That upward trajectory came after he grew from a 5-8 high school freshman into a 6-8 college sophomore.
“I was always super awkward and really uncomfortable in my own body in terms of overall athleticism,” Nohos said. “Once I stopped growing, I was able to figure out how my body moved, and once it started to click, it all clicked quickly.”
Nohos said he was throwing around 90 mph during the summer after his freshman year at Loras. By that December, he was consistently throwing 96 mph. He then transferred to UIC the following summer, when his fastball reached 98 mph.
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“I worked really, really hard,” he said. “I was in the weight room six days a week, running up a huge hill daily. I was physically immature when I got to college, so I made sure that I spent a lot of time getting bigger and stronger.”
Nohos’ rapid development was hard to comprehend for people like Matthew Johnson, who also graduated from Andrean in 2021 and continued his baseball career at Franklin.
“I was assuming it was, like, 94 or maybe 95,” Johnson said. “When he said it was 98, I was a little jealous because who wouldn’t want to throw 98. But I was very happy for him. He’s been working his whole life to get where he is today.”
Nohos attributed much of his success to what he learned in high school, but Andrean coach Dave Pishkur said Nohos deserves just as much credit for taking advantage of the physical tools he was given.
“He put some serious time into reshaping that body so it could throw hard,” Pishkur said. “After seeing him now and watching him throw, I think he’s got 100 in him for sure. That’s only 2 more miles, right?”
In his first season with UIC in 2024, Nohos posted a 4.05 ERA in 13 1/3 innings, holding opponents scoreless in six of 11 appearances. He said he was in line to be UIC’s No. 2 starter in 2025.
But Nohos didn’t get that chance. Just before the season started, he accidentally collided with J-hooks while he was doing lunges in a weight room, and he suffered a fractured rib. He received that diagnosis five days before he was scheduled to make his first start, and his recovery timeline meant he wouldn’t pitch for UIC during the entire 2025 season.
“I was heartbroken,” Nohos said. “For the first time in my life, I felt really prepared and healthy. I was so excited to go out and pitch that season. To find out that the opportunity wasn’t there anymore due to some bad luck was pretty devastating.”
After that initial disappointment, however, Nohos rediscovered his resolve and focused on other aspects of the game while his body recovered.
“You can’t spend three months sulking and expect to come back stronger from an injury,” he said. “So I started getting into the mental side of baseball a little more.”
Nohos threw at 100% for the first time post-injury on June 15 and spent the month after that auditioning at workouts in front of MLB teams. After signing with the Padres, he’s in Peoria, Arizona, to begin his professional career.
“It doesn’t really hit the first day you get off the plane,” he said. “Then you get into the facilities, and you see the locker with your name and the logo, or you’re putting on a Padres shirt for the first time. There are all these little things that happen that make you understand you’re a pro.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter.