PEORIA, Ariz. — Michael King arrived as a relative unknown in camp last spring, his first with the San Diego Padres. A little over a year later, the former reliever will start for the team on Opening Day.
On Monday, manager Mike Shildt named King the Padres’ starter for their season opener on March 27 at Petco Park against the Atlanta Braves.
“Last year, he came in (as a) representation of our year,” Shildt said. “There was just a lot of uncertainty that got cleared up, and Michael was part of that. We lost a known commodity, a multigenerational talent in Juan (Soto), and the return is (that) we get an Opening Day starter a year later (as well as) a guy that helped us get to and win playoff games.”
The Padres traded Soto, arguably the best hitter in baseball, to the New York Yankees after San Diego’s disappointing 2023 season. King headlined the return as a talented right-hander with an injury history and limited experience as a big-league starter.
In his first full season in that role, he helped ease the sting of Soto’s departure. King supplied 173 2/3 innings, a 2.95 ERA and 201 strikeouts. From May 1 on, according to FanGraphs, he was worth more wins above replacement than all but two pitchers — eventual National League Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale and American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal.
For some onlookers, King still entered his second spring with the Padres second or third in line to start Opening Day. Teammate Dylan Cease threw the franchise’s second no-hitter and finished ahead of King in the NL Cy Young voting. Yu Darvish, Japan’s most decorated big-league pitcher, had started three of San Diego’s past four season openers.
King, of course, would not have emerged as a legitimate option without a healthy sense of self-belief.
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“I definitely thought about (an Opening Day start) as a possibility,” King said. He added: “We got a bunch of guys that — I know Shildty said it — (it was) probably a tough decision for him to make. I would not have been upset if it was Dylan or Darvish or (Nick) Pivetta or whoever he chose.
“I’m going to hope to set the tone and then tell Dylan, ‘Hey, try to do better than that,’ and that’ll be throughout the whole year. We love each other. We care for each other. We want everybody to do their best.”
Shildt concurred that the Padres had “three really strong candidates” for Opening Day. He said the decision became easier when Darvish’s Cactus League start last week was pushed back a day because of inclement weather.
“I went to Yu and said, ‘You know, this can impact your opening (start of the regular season),’” Shildt said. “He said, ‘Oh, don’t worry about that. Michael or Dylan, let one of those two guys be the Opening Day starter. I’m OK with it.’ So that really spoke well (of) Darvish.
“Then it literally fell into just the way the days have gone. Michael was a little sick early in camp and got his schedule going in a certain way, and Dylan got his schedule going a certain way, and the schedules have worked out really well. But it lines Michael up, who’s well deserving of the Opening Day starter.”
The Padres will continue to operate with some uncertainty in 2025. Cease, who is expected to start March 28, has been the subject of widespread trade speculation. Darvish has been backed off his throwing schedule because of “general fatigue,” Shildt said, and the Padres plan to be cautious with the 38-year-old; team officials are hopeful that Darvish will be able to pitch in the season’s first turn through the rotation, but they will monitor how he recovers in the coming days.
King also has drawn trade interest. He and the Padres avoided salary arbitration last month, agreeing to a unique deal that includes a mutual option for 2026. Like Cease, he is a pending free agent; mutual options are rarely exercised, and like Cease, King has positioned himself for a nine-figure contract on the open market.
But the Padres expect to contend in 2025. Barring an overwhelming offer, a trade of either of their top two starters before Opening Day appears unlikely. And now, King is scheduled to start at Petco Park that day.
The opposition will be familiar. Sale also is scheduled to start March 27 at Petco Park. The Atlanta Braves ace will have a worthy counterpart in King, who is establishing himself as a primetime pitcher. Last October 1, in the Padres’ postseason opener, King threw seven shutout innings against the Braves in front of a raucous home crowd.
Several months later, another opening assignment beckons.
“It’s the start of the baseball season, and everybody looks forward to it,” King said. “I told Shildty, ‘We’ll be 1-0 after that game.’ … I think winning the first game of the season, it sets the tone for what we’re going to do for the rest of the season.”
(Photo: Harry How / Getty Images)
