With Career-High Workload Mounting, Padres Starter Facing 'Best-Case Scenario'

Maren Angus-Coombs | Sep 6, 2024

Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The San Diego Padres' starting rotation is expanding with the return of Yu Darvish. That is especially good news for right-hander Michael King, who gets three extra days of rest this week.

King has pitched more innings this season (150.2) than he ever has in the major leagues (104.2 last season) and has also made more starts (26) compared to his previous season high of nine starts.

According to Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla, this is a "best-case scenario" for King.

“King is looking good,” the Padres' pitching coach told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “I have zero hesitation. I know we have a month to go — and playoffs, if we get there. But King is in a good spot. If you had told me this eight months ago, I’d be ecstatic about where he’s at — the inning count, the way he’s handled it, the way we’ve handled it. I think it’s a best-case scenario.”

The Padres are keeping an eye on King’s velocity, the spin and movement of his pitches, and his arm slot — all of which are staying around season norms.

“I actually feel great,” King told the Union-Tribune. “It’s been — I don’t want to say surprising — but, like, I’ve seen a bunch of guys have huge innings jumps and once they get into like the August and September months are like, ‘Oh yeah, it’s a grind,’ and I actually feel very good. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve had stints like this where I got eight days. I know I had that dumb calf injury that gave me 10 days off.

“So it’s like, those kinds of things almost reset me, and I’ve been feeling great. Knock on wood.”

King is 11-8 in 27 games (26 starts) this season. He has a 3.17 earned-run average and has surpassed all expectations. As the season goes on, King seems to get stronger.

In July, he went 3-1 with a 1.82 ERA; he was 2-2 in August with a 2.73 ERA.

King has gone above and beyond what has been asked of him and is looking forward to the final few weeks of the season followed by a highly-anticipated postseason berth.

“Everybody calls it angry August, because you’re not in that playoff push yet,” King told the U-T. “Everybody always looks forward to September, because now it’s crunch time. Then, us having to go 18 in a row at the end of August — it’s a little test of our endurance.

“But I think, like I said, it’ll be a very fun September.”