Padres' Michael King Provides Return Timeline, And Fans Will Love It

On Aug. 20, the San Diego Padres will giveaway a bobblehead that features starting pitcher Michael King, and the injured right-hander reportedly said he will be ready to pitch before the big night.

“I’ll be back well before that,” King said to the San Diego Union-Tribune. “… That would be late.”

The Padres placed King on the 15-day injured list with shoulder inflammation on May 25. After undergoing MRI exams, King’s shoulder was determined to have no structural damage.

King took a step in his recovery process when he threw 25 pitches in his first “formal bullpen session" since sustaining the injury on Thursday. The 2024 All-MLB Second-Team selection said he feels fully healthy and is now just in a “buildup phase”.

“Now it’s just like in an off season (where) you’ll be shut down for however long, you’re going to have to take some time to build up because you don’t want to immediately stress it and put too much stress on it,” King said. “So it’s just that buildup phase, which is honestly great, because I feel 100% healthy. And it’s just that build up.

King was specifically diagnosed with a long thoracic nerve injury. Therefore, he said part of the recovery process is making sure all of his tissue is working properly again.

“Now that I’m getting function back, it’s not like … you have to make sure it’s OK. You have to make sure it’s responding to the workload,” King said. “Like, all my tissue was great beforehand, so now it’s just making sure that I’m still operating correctly and I’m not compensating for anything. And — knock on wood — I haven’t been. Everything has been feeling great. So it’s more of an aggressive throwing program.”

King has been eager to return to the rotation since being shut down in May. Meanwhile, San Diego does not want to rush his recovery, as he will be a crucial piece of their defense in the second half of the season and in October.

King explained how advancing in his recovery process requires for both himself and the Padres organization to agree on his progress. He said he felt great after his bullpen session on Thursday and is hoping to continue to move forward.

“I’ve been battling with them to make sure that it’s aggressive. But it ultimately falls on me and how I feel and being able to report (and) have good reports back after these days,” King said. “So today was great, and hopefully tomorrow I recover well, and I can talk to (head athletic trainer Mark Rogow) to make sure that I can progress forward.”

San Diego is battling through a tight NL Wild Card race. Getting King back in the rotation in the next few weeks could help push the Padres back into postseason contention.

For more Padres news, head over to Padres on SI.