King throws clean sim game, lined up for return or rehab start soon

SAN DIEGO -- The Padres and Dodgers are readying for their regular-season finale with first place on the line, and Michael King is on the mound at Petco Park. Only it’s not the setting King envisioned.

The gates aren’t yet open. First pitch is hours away. King is pitching a morning simulated game. He’s getting there.

Over the past three months, King has pitched all of two big league innings. First, he missed time while recovering from a nerve injury that affected his right shoulder strength. Then, he was sidelined by a left knee injury that landed him back on the IL after just one start.

It’s been a frustrating summer for King. But there’s one way to make up for it all.

“What makes up for it,” King said, “is pitching well in October and pitching deep into October.”

He, and the Padres, are trending toward getting that opportunity. King pitched three simulated innings on Sunday, throwing 44 pitches. He struck out five and didn’t allow any hard contact. Afterward, King reported feeling no effects from the left knee inflammation that landed him on the IL on Aug. 15.

“It’s been an easier rehab than my nerve [injury] that I had,” King said. “Obviously way more straightforward. If I can throw that velo and that command, I’ll be good to go.”

It’s unclear if “good to go” means that King will return to make a start against the Twins in Minnesota next weekend. There’s a chance he’ll require a rehab start, which would line King up to return the following week. That’ll be the team’s decision.

But King’s return appears imminent in the next week or two. He won’t need to be built up to a regular starter’s workload either. The Padres have built one of the deepest bullpens in recent memory -- and with rosters expanding on Sept. 1, they’ll be able to add another pitcher to it.

Then again, King is building with the goal of returning to the form that made him the Padres’ Opening Day starter and their Game 1 starter last postseason. In 10 starts before his nerve injury, he posted a 2.59 ERA.

“I always say starting pitching wins championships,” King said. “Obviously we have an incredible bullpen. But the starters still got to go deep into games. So I’m not going to bank on just going four innings and just turning it over to our dogs. I would love to be that guy that gives them the day off.”

It’s hard to overstate the importance of King’s return for the Padres. At the Trade Deadline, they built a roster with very few flaws. Starting-pitching depth was perhaps the only one. But with King back in the mix, a Padres rotation featuring King, Nick Pivetta, Dylan Cease and a potentially resurgent Yu Darvish looks fearsome. It just might be enough to help King reach that goal of pitching deep into October.