SAN DIEGO -- Padres pitcher Michael King has a scheduled bobblehead giveaway at Petco Park on August 11th when they take on the San Francisco Giants. He expects to return to the Friars' rotation "well before that."
King, who was placed on the15-day injured list after suffering a pinched nerve in his right shoulder, threw his first official bullpen session on Thursday afternoon at Petco Park.
"I was 88 to 91, threw all pitches, 25 pitches and all good," King said. "This is technically the third time I've been on the mound. The first two were catch-play off the mound and this one was supposed to be a touch and feel, but I definitely made it more of a bullpen just to speed things up cause I'd like to progress...it definitely felt good."
San Diego's thinned rotation, which was boosted by the return of Yu Darvish on Monday, could certainly use another ace back in the fold. For King, being back on the mound and wearing his uniform for the first time in nearly two months was a big step towards that goal.
"I've been feeling really good for the last two weeks. I'm surprised of the command, I had no expectations going in. Command of everything was good. I threw back door breaking balls, changeup at the bottom of the zone, forcing to the top, some front hips. It was productive."
Now King says he expects to build upon his first bullpen session with even more structured aggression.
"I think it's actually been a very aggressive buildup," said King." I pushed for that, obviously and it goes back to the same thing, like I didn't have a soft tissue injury. It was a nerve shut down and now that I'm getting function back...all my tissue was great beforehand. So now it's just making sure that I'm still operating correctly and that I'm not compensating for anything. And knock on wood, I haven't been. Everything's been feeling great. It's more of an aggressive throwing program. I've been battling with them to make sure it's aggressive. Obviously it ultimately falls on me and how I'm feeling and being able to have good reports back."
Notable
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Fernando Tatis on his home run, being robbed of a home run and advice from his father.
Manny Machado on the Padres offense and why they're primed for a strong second half.