Michael King Helping Padres Develop Next Great Starting Pitcher

San Diego Padres pitcher Michael King has been one of MLB's best starters since moving to California from New York, and now he's helping the newly-appointed Stephen Kolek find his feet in the rotation.

“We have like the exact same arsenal and it took me a while,” King said to the San Diego Union Tribunte, recalling Kolek's first live batting practice during spring training. “He has the stuff, but I felt like he needed to learn how to pitch with the stuff. Where I didn’t have the stuff and I learned how to pitch. Once I started adding the stuff, that’s when I could actually get through a lineup and face both righties and lefties, induce soft contact when I needed to and get strikeouts when I needed to.

"I think his main thing that he needed to figure out was sequencing, because he would get soft-contacted to death.”

King has became a full time starter after coming to San Diego, and is sporting a 2.81 ERA across 224 innings since his move from the Yankees.

The Friars recalled Kolek from Triple-A El Paso on May 4, when he made his first career MLB start against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He kept them scoreless through 5.1 innings. In his next start, he pitched a shutout against the Rockies, becoming the first pitcher to throw a shutout in a 20-plus run win since 1889.

Kolek pitched for the Padres in 2024, posting a 5.21 ERA in 46.2 innings pitched, but right forearm tendinitis cut his season short. During his rookie campaign, he had an expected batting average against of .279, which was in the bottom five percent of MLB.

“I feel like I’m not even recognizable, even from last spring training,” Kolek said to The San Diego Union Tribune.

“Just everything. My arsenal is way more developed now and my pitch ability to a lot of hitters is just far beyond what it was. I’m that much more confident and have a better understanding of what is required of you at this level and what goes with that.”

Kolek will take the mound as a starter at Petco Park for the first time Friday night in the series opener against the Seattle Mariners, the organization which gave him his first starts in the minor leagues in 2021. The Padres are looking for their third straight series win as they chase the NL West leading Los Angeles Dodgers.

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