Padres Reveal When Michael King Will Make Long-Awaited Return

King pitched most recently on May 18 against the Seattle Mariners but sustained a nerve injury that landed him on the IL a week later. The right-hander made just one rehab start with Triple-A El Paso on Sunday, where he gave up six earned runs, four hits and two home runs.

Padres manager Mike Shildt told reporters he believed Sunday’s rehab start would be the only one King would complete before returning to MLB. 

Before King’s rehab start, he also threw in three simulated innings where he said he felt fully healed from his injury. The Padres wanted to let King get back in the groove before reactivating him and seem to feel confident he has progressed to MLB standard.

“I’m 100 percent,” King said via MLB.com's AJ Cassavell after his three simulated innings last week. “I haven’t had any real pain. It’s just that obviously the muscle just wasn’t firing. So now that it’s going, it’s really just trying to get my feet under me and make sure I’m progressing as fast as possible.”

San Diego optioned starting pitcher JP Sears, who they acquired alongside closer Mason Miller in a trade deadline deal with the Athletics. Sears made one unsuccessful MLB start with the Padres, where he gave up 10 hits, five runs and a homer in five innings.

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After the outing, the Padres sent Sears to Triple-A. The move was likely also influenced by the pending return of King.

King will now join a rotation consisting of Dylan Cease, Yu Darvish, Nick Pivetta and recently-acquired Nestor Cortes.

Cortes made his Padres debut on Wednesday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, which was the first time he was pitched since April 3. He allowed three hits, two runs, one homer and walked three batters while also striking out three. 

Prior to his injury, King was one of San Diego’s best starting pitchers. He posted a 2.59 ERA and 64 strikeouts across 10 starts. 

The Padres made several blockbuster moves at the trade deadline to bolster their rotation, and getting King back will further strengthen San Diego as they head into the final months of the season.

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