Your one-stop-shop for Rotoworld’s preseason fantasy baseball content.
Go to: All | SP | 1B | 3B | SS | OF | DH
| Michael King | SD - SP | ||||||||||||
| Throws: R | Age: 29 | Mixed 5x5: $14 | NL 5x5: $21 | |||||||||||
| 2024: Started: 30 Relieved: 1 | Mixed 2026: $13 | 2027: $12 | ||||||||||||
| Outlook: With expectations fairly high for the former reliever after his successful eight-start run at the end of 2023 (1.88 ERA, 48/9 K/BB in 38 IP), King was pretty disappointing at the very beginning of his Padres career. The primary return in the Juan Soto deal with the Yankees, King was 2-3 with a 5.00 ERA after a month. Because he’d allowed 10 homers in 36 innings, his FIP was all of the way up at 6.31. Things, though, turned around very suddenly in May. He shut out the powerful D-backs and Dodgers lineups for 13 innings in his first two starts of the month and kept rolling from there. Overall, he was 11-6 with a 2.42 ERA in his final 24 starts, giving up just seven homers along the way. He went on to shut out the Braves for seven innings in his first career postseason start, though he did give up five runs in a loss to the Dodgers in the NLDS. King’s fastball velocity is down about two mph as a starter, but he actually threw his slider harder than ever last season, and his changeup, which was mostly unaffected by the velocity drop, became his most valuable pitch. There’s some concern that the huge workload jump could catch up to him this season, but if he remains healthy, he’ll probably be a top-20 SP again. | |||||||||||||
