After the craziest trade deadline in Major League Baseball, the San Diego Padres have dramatically won back-to-back series. Newly acquired Ramon Laureano, Ryan O’Hearn, and Mason Miller have immediately stepped in and made a difference. The team is two games behind the struggling Dodgers, and have all the momentum to take the division. To make matters even better, the Padres are also expected to get another massive difference-maker in Michael King back.
Michael King’s Return
Dennis Lin of The Athletic reported that King is expected to start Saturday night against the Red Sox. Before going down with a strange shoulder injury, King had his name in the Cy Young race.
He truly broke onto the scene after being traded to the Padres as part of the Juan Soto deal. The former reliever took over as the ace of the Padres’ rotation last season and was exceptional. Over 173.2 innings, King put up a 2.95 ERA with 201 strikeouts and finished seventh in MVP voting. Then, in the playoffs, he pitched a seven-inning shutout with 12 strikeouts in the wild card round. King’s next playoff start against the Dodgers didn’t go as well, but he went five innings and the Padres ultimately won that game.
To begin this season, King looked even better with a 2.59 ERA and 64 punch-outs in his first ten starts before injury. To say the injury was a blow to the Friars would be an understatement. He’s their best pitcher. His five-pitch mix that features one of the most dominant sinkers in the game has propelled him to be one of the most feared starters across the league.
Looming Free Agency
Unfortuantely, King is expected to test free agency this Winter, and his tenure in San Diego has made him an extremely desired player. Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller recently broke down King’s upcoming free agency market.
“King is working on a fourth consecutive season with a sub-3.00 ERA, but he has also been out since mid-May with a thoracic nerve issue. At this point, he needs to come back and prove himself even more than Bieber does, as last year was the only one thus far in which King made more than 10 starts. Of the four pitchers in this tier, he just might have the best stuff, but is least likely to get a $100M deal. (Prediction: King re-signs with Padres on a three-year deal.)”
King getting under $100 million seems unlikely in my opinion, but the durability concerns do exist. Either way, if that’s his market, the Padres need to capitalize.
All Hail the King
The Padres really do need Michael King in order to be a legitimate title contender for both this year and the future. Dylan Cease has struggled this year and will also be a free agent after this season. Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove still have multiple years remaining on their deals, but are getting older and have serious injury question marks. Pivetta has proven himself as a top arm and is under contract for the future. Maybe Mason Miller is converted into a starter (that’d be my guess). But overall, this team will enter the offseason with a massive hole in the rotation. King is the answer.
Is it a risk to pay an often-injured pitcher? Yes, but it’s a risk worth taking if the Padres want to continue to be World Series contenders. Pay Michael King.
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