Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees' Michael King Expected to Miss Rest of Season With Elbow Injury

It's hard to quantify just how big of a blow this is for the Yankees.

Max Goodman

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Yankees reliever Michael King exited Friday night's win against the Orioles with a right elbow injury.

While the Yankees didn't initially have an update on King's status, it didn't take long for a diagnosis of the right-hander's injury to be revealed. 

According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, King has a fracture in his right elbow and is expected to miss the remainder of the 2022 season, a devastating blow for New York and their pitching staff.

The right-hander immediately motioned to New York's dugout after delivering a slider in the dirt with one out in the eighth at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone and a member of New York's training staff immediately joined King on the infield grass, checking in on the reliever before he left the game, walking slowly off the field. 

Television cameras picked up the conversation between those three individuals and it looked like the trainer said King's "elbow just popped" to Boone.

Closer Clay Holmes replaced King, recording the final five outs to secure a save in the 7-6 victory. 

After the game, Boone told reporters that King is being evaluated for an elbow injury and that the club will make some roster moves later Friday evening.

"He's been one of the best pitchers in the league," Boone said. "Hope and pray for the best for King, but I'm not going to speculate."

Sherman reported that King has a fracture in his elbow shortly thereafter.

King has been so dominant this year, so reliable in a variety of roles out of the bullpen. The right-hander posted a 2.29 ERA over 34 games this season, striking out 66 batters in 51 frames. He arguably should've made the All-Star Game as well, one of the glaring snubs from this year's American League roster. 

The Yankees have already lost two pitchers to Tommy John surgery this season (Chad Green and Luis Gil). A slew of other arms are either just returning from injury or currently preside on the injured list.

There are internal options to eat innings, but it's growing increasingly clear that the Yankees need to add to their pitching staff before the trade deadline. If they do pursue pitchers, general manager Brian Cashman and his team have less than two weeks to make magic happen on the open market.

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Yankees for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. Goodman has been on the Yankees beat for three seasons. He is also the publisher of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Jets site, Jets Country. Before starting Inside The Pinstripes, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. At school, Goodman was an anchor and reporter with NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. While at Northwestern, Goodman interned with MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman. You can connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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