SAN DIEGO-- Shortly after Padres pitcher Michael King threw his first simulated game at Petco Park after being shut down with a pinched nerve in his right shoulder, his manager was asked if King's pending return might be the team's biggest acquisition post-trade deadline.
"I can't speak to that, I'll let you know at the end of the the trade deadline," said Mike Shildt of Preller. "I am in contact with AJ. I know he's working hard to always give us the best club he can with the parameters he's been given. Michael King comes back, whether we add, and what we add it's hard to say relative to Michael coming back, but it's going to be hard to expect anything better than Michael King."
The financial parameters facing Preller and the Padres are notable, as is their pressing need for a leftfielder, catcher, bench piece or two and perhaps another starting pitcher. Yu Darvish has struggled in his first three starts of the season, allowing 17 earned runs in 16.2 innings and a WHIP of 1.80, and Dylan Cease, whom the Padres are known to be taking calls on, has not resembled the same pitcher that finished fourth in Cy Young voting in 2024.
The good news for the Padres? King and his manager were encouraged after his first simulated game of about 40 pitches at Petco Park.
"It was very encouraging," Shildt said." Very, very, very encouraging. I'm sure most of you saw it. You can form your own opinions and everyone has the right to have them. I was extremely encouraged by it, looked like Michael. We don't want to get too far down the road but we are getting at the end of the road and the end of the road is back pitching for the Padres and clearly that'd be a huge boost for the club. Michael was excited, watching him today, the ball was coming out good, and changeup was good and secondary was there and as you would expect after a multiple-month hiatus on the mound, there's still a little bit of rust there but as far as the ball coming out and the movements, it also looked like he felt good. And that's the most important thing. It looked free, it looked easy. We saw a convicted athlete out there and it was very encouraging day for Michael King and the Padres."
King was encouraged by his outing and the uptick in velocity and pitch count from his previous bullpen sessions.
"Probably better than I would have thought, "said a smiling King. "The adrenaline of pitching at Petco Park is a little bit more than Arizona back fields. I was happy with the command and everything. Shapes were good, I felt like all pitches were commanded pretty well."
King said replicating a true game atmosphere at Petco Park, minus the cheers fans, was important.
"It becomes more game-like. Seeing a ball get hit in the outfield and knowing I got a defense there, trying to pick someone off, trying to make sure it doesn't steal. There's so many things that go into a game that you're not typically used to when you're first building up."
Manny Machado was bullish on what the return of King could mean for the Padres playoff hopes and boosting a weary pitching staff.
"It's awesome, obviously seeing him, we need him," said Machado. "He's a big part of our rotation. As long as he's healthy, you know we have guys that have been picking up the slack and picking up that rotation and they've been doing a really good job. Having him back and coming back healthy, adding to this rotation that we have is going to be nice."
Notable
Shildt wouldn't reveal who would start Tuesday against the New York Mets but Ryan Bergert was back in the clubhouse...
Quotable
"It's the name of the game. I give a lot of props to him (Dylan Cease) because you've got to still go out there and pitch when your name's being thrown around. He's a pro, he's going to shut off the noise, shut out the noise and hopefully shut out the Mets. He's going to go out there and dominate the way that I know he will. It's a business, it's a tough game, but wherever he is, I like him in my rotation."
- Michael King on trade rumors surrounding teammate and locker mate Dylan Cease.