The Padres’ Michael King threw 61 pitches in his lone rehab start, stressing efficiency as he returns from injured list for Saturday’s start against Red Sox
San Diego Padres starting pitcher Michael King greets teammates in the dugout before their game against the Angels on Monday, May 12, 2025, in San Diego. Before progressing to bullpen sessions, Michael King was doing a lot of the sketching as he, the team and physical therapist Scott Hacker began to outline what his return to the rotation would look like.
Ideally, the plan would not have included any rehab assignments. After all, Yu Darvish’s final ramp-up — after the setback following his initial appearance for Triple-A El Paso in mid-May — did not include any time in a minor league ballpark.So one rehab assignment was more than enough for King. He threw 61 pitches in 3⅓ innings on Sunday at Round Rock. He hit the first batter he faced and gave up six runs on four hits and a walk while striking out five. Most importantly, King said he felt 100% during the rehab appearance, after the outing and after Wednesday’s bullpen at Chase Field.“I definitely had my pity party,” King said. “But a lot of fun things have happened in these last couple months. Obviously, I’m a dad. I’ve got a bunch of new teammates. We’re playing really well and it’s been a fun last couple months.King will have restrictions, although the Padres say they will be fluid in watching his workload. It’s reasonable to expect that the pitch count will be in the neighborhood of 80 after just one rehab appearance. Having fresher bullpen arms — the team was off Thursday and Nick Pivetta, Friday’s starter, is the team’s best bet for a long start — was part of calculus in slotting King ahead of Dylan Cease, who will now be on six days rest for Sunday’s start. For his part, King declined to put a number on Saturday’s start. He hasn’t been rehabbing a structural or soft tissue injury, so once his long thoracic nerve started again to fire correctly, his return was almost like a second spring training build-up and it’s clear that King knows that he’s not going from 61 pitches to a full-fledged starting pitcher on Saturday. “I’ve said it for a little bit, but once I started getting function back, it was really just building up,” said King, who said he did not throw additional pitches in the bullpen after Sunday’s rehab start. “So basically, feel great and just trying to be now as efficient as I possibly can.”traded to the Giants earlier this year, that’s about it as far as former teammates that Bogaerts will get to reconnect with over the weekend.And now they’re pushing the Red Sox back into contention in the AL East . “They’ve been playing really good baseball, especially as of late,” Bogaerts said. “A very young team, a lot of energy, a lot of talent. I remember a lot of those guys over there now when they were prospects when I was over there. So to see them now in the big leagues is pretty cool.” The series is just Bogaerts’ second series against his former team since signing with the Padres after the 2022 season. He went 0-for-11 with a walk and three strikeouts in three games at Petco Park in 2023, but missed last year’s series in Boston while on the injured list with a shoulder fracture. He suspects all the changes in Boston and the time that has passed will dampen the emotions of playing against his original organization. “I think it’s a different team,” Bogaerts said. “A lot of the guys that are on the team right now I never played with. Trevor, Duran — I don’t know if they’re the only ones, but all the other guys, a lot of the younger guys that came up, I know of them from the system.”Audit spurred by students’ investigation finds financial mismanagement by San Dieguito high school foundationsThe best things to do this weekend in San Diego: Aug. 8-10The San Diego and Tijuana concerts you won’t want to miss this weekCalifornia’s rooftop solar rules in limbo after state Supreme Court rulingGot $500 million? A superyacht allegedly seized from Russian oligarch is up for auction in San Diego
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