San Diego Padres’ ace impresses in first spring training outing
The Padres are starting to roll out their best guys on the mound. Yesterday, Nick Pivetta pieced together an impressive debut in his new threads, and today, the torch was passed on to right-hander Michael King.
On the heels of placing seventh in the National League Cy Young Award race in 2024, Friars fans have been eager to see King get back on the hill. King, 29, signed a deal this offseason to avoid arbitration, and he had not pitched in a spring game until Wednesday.
The wait was worthwhile for the fans, as King’s pitch movement, particularly from his changeups and sinkers, were in midseason form in his first start of the spring. Facing the Rockies, King’s command was not as good as his stuff, but he still twirled two scoreless innings, striking out three batters alongside two walks and no hits allowed.
After setting Brenton Doyle down on strikes to begin the day, King quickly got into trouble. He walked two guys and hit one to load the bases in the first inning, but navigated out of trouble to avoid any runs on the board. With one out and the bases filled, King was able to get newly-signed Thairo Estrada out on a popout on two pitches. Then, in just one pitch, he ended the inning on a Nolan Jones fly out to center field.
