Padres right-hander Michael King is set to make his long-awaited return to the mound, the team announced late Wednesday night. He’s set to face the Red Sox on Saturday at Petco Park.
King has missed nearly three months due to a long thoracic nerve issue that affected the strength in his right shoulder. His return gives the Padres rotation a major boost ahead of the stretch run.
In 10 starts this season, King has posted a 2.59 ERA. He was the team’s Opening Day starter and its Game 1 starter in the postseason last year.
King made one rehab start for Triple-A El Paso in which he allowed six runs while striking out five over 3 1/3 innings. He threw 61 pitches, which means that he’ll assuredly be on a limited pitch count upon his return to the big league mound.
Tests revealed no structural damage to King’s shoulder, but the right-hander was still shut down from throwing for about a month as he waited for the nerve injury to heal. Once it did, he resumed playing catch in late June and returned to the mound in July.
After the nerve injury subsided, King said he never felt any further issues with his shoulder. After a simulated game at Petco Park in late July, he declared himself “100 percent” already, merely needing to build up his pitch count.
After that sim game, manager Mike Shildt was asked about King’s return in the context of the Trade Deadline.
“Whether we add … it’s going to be hard to expect anything better than Michael King,” Shildt said.
Sure enough, the Padres did add -- in a major way. And those additions are already having a serious impact. San Diego trails the Dodgers by just two games in the National League West race. And still, it’s hard to argue with Shildt’s assessment. King’s return gives the Padres a huge boost.
That rotation suddenly looks fearsome, particularly in a potential playoff series. Dylan Cease was retained at the Trade Deadline despite various rumors, and fellow right-hander Nick Pivetta has emerged as one of the National League’s top starters this season. Meanwhile, veteran righty Yu Darvish recently returned from the IL after dealing with right elbow inflammation for the first half of the season.
Pivetta, King and Cease -- in that order -- are slated to start against the Red Sox this weekend at Petco Park, the team announced. That could line King up for his next start to come Aug. 15 in the opener of a critical three-game series at Dodger Stadium.