Michael

King

King walked four, and just 41 of his 76 pitches were strikes. He also fought his control this spring, walking seven, hitting one and throwing two wild pitches in his 13 2/3 innings. That was kind of the story last year, too; a full third of the walks he issued on the season came in his 36 innings between March and April. (21 then, 42 in 137 2/3 innings the rest of the way.) King will face the Guardians on Tuesday.

Cease and Opening Day starter Michael King are the only locks in San Diego’s starting rotation mix at the moment as a result of spring training injuries to Yu Darvish (elbow) and Matt Waldron (oblique). It’ll be some combination of Nick Pivetta, Kyle Hart and Randy Vásquez taking the ball for the Padres, but the exact order has yet to be determined. There should be some clarity prior to Thursday’s season-opener.

The 29-year-old right-hander struck out four batters on the afternoon and didn’t issue a base on balls. The only baserunner that he allowed was a leadoff single to Vidal Brujan to start the game, otherwise he was in complete command. After a rough start to the spring, King now sports a 3.95 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and a 13/7 K/BB ratio over 13 2/3 innings through his first four starts. Fantasy managers have certainly taken note, as King has been drafted inside the top 15 starting pitchers this spring with an average draft position inside the top 65 picks overall.

King has been shaky in spring training with a 6.23 ERA over his Cactus League appearances, but to say that doesn’t matter is an understatement. The 29-year-old was a breakout star for San Diego, and he offers potential to be an SP1 for fantasy managers during the 2025 campaign. He’ll square off against Chris Sale in the opener.

King gave up three hits — one of those hits a long homer to Randy Arozarena — while striking out five against two walks. The 29-year-old has been just so-so in the spring, but was outstanding in 2024 in his first full year as a starter, and fantasy players should ignore his 6.23 ERA in the Cactus League.

The statistical results obviously don’t carry much weight at this stage of spring training, especially since King’s fastball velocity appeared to be in midseason form during this one. He finished with only one strikeout and issued three walks. The 29-year-old remains a certifiable upper-echelon, top-15 range starting pitcher for fantasy purposes following last year’s breakthrough campaign.

King handed out a pair of free passes but still managed to complete a pair of frames without any damage against a Colorado lineup that featured nearly all of their big-league regulars. The 29-year-old righty sat in the low-to-mid 90’s with his four-seamer and sinker while generating six swinging strikes on 35 pitches (16 strikes). He’s squarely in the top-15 range among starting pitchers from a fantasy standpoint this spring.

The exact details of the deal are not known, but it’ll be between the $8.8 million he asked for and the $7.325 the Padres offered. King has been the subject of trade talks lately, but assuming he’s not dealt he’ll pitch in the middle of the San Diego rotation in 2025.

We already know that the Padres are debating trading Dylan Cease as they look to cut payroll and acquire more cost-controlled, long-term assets; however, Rosenthal also mentions that King is another starter who other teams believe could be traded. As Rosenthal noted, King asked for $8.8 million in arbitration and the Padres offered $7.325 million, so a hearing appears likely. This upcoming season will also be King’s last season before free agency, so if the Padres don’t feel like they have a chance to re-sign him to a longer-term deal, they could look to move him now while his return value would be highest.

King gave up five hits, walked one and struck out three. King allowed a home run to Mookie Betts in the first inning that was almost robbed by Jurickson Profar, which would’ve been the second time he robbed Betts of a home run in two games. Staked to a 6-1 lead in the third inning, King then gave up a grand slam to Teoscar Hernandez on a hanging breaking pitch. King settled down to get through five innings without any further damage and turned the game over to the Padres bullpen to preserve his second win of the postseason so far.