Michael King

Note: This page is for P Michael King who made his debut in 2019; for others with the same name, click here.

Michael McRae King

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 210 lb.
• School Boston College
• High School Bishop Hendricken High School
• Debut September 27, 2019

• Born May 25, 1995 in Rochester, NY USA

BR page

Biographical Information

"Mike King finished the 2018 season recognized as the Yankees minor league pitcher of the year . . ." - from an article about Mike King [1]

Michael King, also called Mike King, was the 261st and last player to make his major league debut during the 2019 season when he pitched 2 innings for the New York Yankees on September 27th in a 14-7 win over the Texas Rangers. It was his only major league appearance of the year.

His first major league appearance came after four years in the Miami Marlins and New York Yankees organizations. Most notably, in 2018, he had a record of 11-5 largely as a starter with an ERA of 1.79. In 2019, he appeared in only 11 games at four minor league levels before coming to the majors, as he was injured for much of the season. He was acquired by the Yankees in return for 1B Garrett Cooper and P Caleb Smith after the 2017 season.

During the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he shuttled between the Yankees and their alternative training site, pitching in 9 games, including 4 starts, and logging 26 2/3 innings. He went 1-2, 7.76 and saw action in the postseason, pitching 2 innings in Game 3 of the Division Series on October 7th, in an 8-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. He saw more major league action in 2021, once again in a swingman role, with 6 starts in 22 games. The results were better than the previous campaign, as he went 2-4, 3.55. The 2 wins were both against the Toronto Blue Jays at a key juncture of the season, on September 28th and 30th at the height of the race for a postseason slot, and were key to the Yankees finishing just one game ahead of Toronto. In both 2020 and 2021, he recorded almost one strikeout per inning: 26 in 26 2/3 innings the first year, and 62 in 63 innings the second. He also made 3 appearances in AAA with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in 2021, but did not take part in the Yankees' lone postseason game, a loss to the Boston Red Sox in the Wild Card Game.

Mike continued to climb up the Yankee pitching ladder in 2022, securing a job a set-up man in the bullpen on the Opening Day roster. On April 14th, he had another memorable outing against Toronto, coming in to bail out closer Aroldis Chapman in the 9th after he had loaded the bases without retiring anyone, putting in peril a 3-0 lead. Michael came in at this point and needed just five pitches to extinguish the fire, striking out George Springer on three pitches, then getting Bo Bichette to pop-up into a double play in shallow right field. It was his first career save. On April 22nd, he had another great outing, as he struck out 8 batters, including 7 in a row, in just three innings of relief in a 4-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians. He went 6-3, 2.29 in 34 games that season, with 66 strikeouts in 51 innings. However, his final appearance came on July 22nd as he missed the remainder of the season and the postseason with an injury. He was back in 2023 with another solid effort. He was exclusively a reliever until the end of August, but after making a first start on August 24th, he made eight more to finish the season, as the Yankees were short of reliable starters. He went just 1-3 in those 9 starts but with an ERA of 2.23 and a K/W ratio of 51-9, an indication that he could turn into a dominating starting pitcher. Overall, his record was 4-8, 2.75 in 49 games with 6 saves. His 104 2/3 innings were the most he had pitched in one season and fourth-most on the team in spite of his spending the first four and a half months of the season as a reliever.

On December 6, 2023, he was one of the key pieces acquired by the San Diego Padres in return for All-Star OF Juan Soto. Others involved in the blockbuster trade included OF Trent Grisham, accompanying Soto to New York, and C Kyle Higashioka and Ps Jhony Brito, Randy Vasquez and Drew Thorpe also headed to San Diego. By then he was ten days away from his long-planned wedding date, but he went ahead with the ceremony and surrounding events before starting to plan for a cross-country move with his new spouse, Sheila. Following the loss of Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell to free agency, the Padres were looking for King to be a mainstay of their starting rotation in 2024. He turned out to be just that, making 30 starts in 31 appearances and logging a career-high 173 2/3 innings in going 13-9, 2.95. He also struck out 201 batters. He was chosen by manager Mike Shildt to start Game 1 of the Wild Card Series at home against the Atlanta Braves on October 1st and he delivered a tremendous performance. He limited the Braves to 5 hits and no walks over 7 innings while racking up 12 strikeouts, earning credit for a 4-0 win.

Notable Achievements

• 200 Strikeouts Seasons: 1 (2024)

Further Reading

• AJ Cassavell: "Blockbuster trade wasn't going to ruin King's wedding plans: Right-hander joins Padres as part of Juan Soto deal with Yankees during whirlwind offseason", mlb.com, February 12, 2024. [2]
• AJ Cassavell: "With King (12 K's, 0 runs), Padres had an ace up their sleeve", 'mlb.com, October 2, 2024. [3]
• Thomas Harrigan: "Replacing a Cy winner? This reliever-turned-starter is ready for it", mlb.com, March 8, 2024. [4]

Related Sites

• Michael King on mlb.com