Padres' Michael King Has Blunt Assessment of His 2026 Season

When the San Diego Padres signed veteran right-hander Michael King over the offseason, the team was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Many around the league believed that the Padres were going to lose King on the open market, as they weren't expected to be able to afford him.

San Diego had already lost ace Dylan Cease to free agency, so bringing King back at least gave this starting group some level of continuity. But with the loss of Cease, King was now expected to take on more responsibility this season.

So far, King appears to be off to a strong start, at least according to his numbers. Overall, King has posted an ERA of 2.76 over 45 innings of work. However, he doesn't like the way he's pitched.

The right-hander reflected on his season so far, and offered a blunt assessment of his performance.

"Not at all,” King said to MLB.com when asked if he's been good this year.

Over his career, King has dealt with some injuries that have limited his ability and impact to help his team. But when healthy, King has been dominant, especially since coming to San Diego.

So why doesn't he think he's pitching well this year?

“I’m mentally exhausted after these games,” King said. “Because I need to go straight to the scouting report. I do my scouting to get through a tough inning or situation. But then it should come back to my strengths: I have the sinker command, I just attack guys."

Even if he hasn't been perfect this season, King has been paramount in the Padres' success to open the year. Despite the starting rotation having some uncertainty around it and new injuries coming up, the team has found ways to win games.

King's goal to open the season was to be able to pitch deep into games, helping the bullpen out in the process. But so far, he has yet to record an out past the sixth inning in a game, which is something he wants to fix sooner rather than later.

There is a strong reliance on the sinker and changeup when he pitches, and if he has these working, King is very tough to beat. His changeup has been great this year, with batters only hitting .196 against it.

The veteran still has some work to do this year to get where he wants to be performance-wise. But for now, King will continue to take the mound every fifth day and give the Padres a chance to win a game.

When it comes to being a starting pitcher, that's all you want to do.

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