Padres Pitcher Predicted to Have Cy Young Caliber Season in 2026

When the San Diego Padres lost ace Dylan Cease this offseason in free agency, it left a massive hole in the starting rotation. Adding in the fact that right-hander Yu Darvish would be missing the year due to injury, the Padres' starting rotation was very much a concern.

Luckily, the team was able to retain right-hander Michael King (who was also a free agent), giving this rotation some form of continuity. King, who came to San Diego in the trade that sent out Juan Soto, has been great for the Padres, and he was an arm that needed to come back.

Last season, King dealt with some injuries that limited him to just 15 starts, but in that time, he pitched well. Overall, the right-hander posted an ERA of 3.44 over 73.1 innings of work.

Heading into 2026, King was expected to carry a heavy load for the team due to the question marks across the rotation. And one MLB analyst has predicted a dominant year from him.

Ethan Penrod of Just Baseball believes that King will have a Cy Young-caliber season in 2026, finishing top five in the end-of-season voting.

"Despite the down year, I’m still a firm believer in his stuff and the way he attacks hitters," Penrod wrote. "When right, he is front dooring sinkers to lefties and having righties flail at his sweeper. And his cross-body delivery creates deception, making it hard to pick up the ball out of his hand."

King's 2025 season wasn't as strong as 2024, but this was mainly due to the injuries that he suffered. But in his first year with the Padres, King was electric, making 31 appearances (30 starts) and posting an ERA of 2.95.

If King can get back to this form, he could easily be in the Cy Young conversation in the National League. And the right-hander is off to a good start to the year, throwing five innings of shutdown baseball in his first outing of 2026.

Against the Detroit Tigers, King only allowed one hit over five innings, striking out six batters during the performance. San Diego did lose the game, but it wasn't because of King, who allowed just one unearned run.

Michael King collected 14 whiffs tonight in his first start of the season.

The Sweeper looked strong averaging -14.0”HB and posting 44.4% whiff rate

Would love to see the command improve moving forward, but his arsenal only yielded a .257 xwOBAcon pic.twitter.com/nA42ZNNuNn
— Clark Fahrenthold (@CFahrenthold11) March 28, 2026

If the Padres are going to make any noise this season, these are the types of outings that King will need to produce each time out. The righty has special stuff on the mound, and if he can stay healthy this season, San Diego could have a dominant year from him on the mound.