PEORIA, Ariz. -- How good was Michael King in his transition to the rotation last season? Good enough that he¡¯s the Padres¡¯ Opening Day starter in 2025.
Manager Mike Shildt officially tabbed King as the Padres¡¯ starting pitcher when they open their 2025 season on March 27 at Petco Park. He¡¯ll be opposed by Atlanta¡¯s Chris Sale -- the reigning NL Cy Young winner was given the Opening Day nod by the Braves on Monday as well.
The Padres¡¯ decision to name King qualifies as a mild surprise in a rotation that also features Yu Darvish and Dylan Cease. But King is clearly deserving as well. He¡¯s coming off a wildly successful first season with the Padres, in which he posted a 2.95 ERA and recorded 201 strikeouts, while making 30 starts.
¡°Very proud and happy for the opportunity,¡± King said. ¡°It¡¯s a huge honor for me, and I look forward to it.¡±
King, of course, arrived in the December 2023 deal that sent Juan Soto to the Yankees. At the time, he¡¯d only made a few starts for New York, but the Padres planned to use him as a full-time starter.
That transition couldn¡¯t have gone any smoother. King finished seventh in voting for the NL Cy Young Award in his first year as a starting pitcher. He started Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series against Atlanta, pitching seven scoreless innings and striking out 12. (A back injury kept Sale out of that game.)
¡°We lost a known commodity -- a multigenerational talent in Juan,¡± said Shildt. ¡°But the return is we get an Opening Day starter a year later and a guy that helped contribute to get [us] to and win playoff games.¡±
Shildt¡¯s decision wasn¡¯t an easy one. Though Darvish, who has made three previous Opening Day starts for San Diego, was seemingly ruled out of contention for other reasons. The veteran right-hander has been eased off his throwing program while battling what Shildt called ¡°general fatigue.¡± It¡¯s not clear yet when Darvish will resume throwing or if he¡¯ll be part of the season-opening rotation. If he is, he would presumably land near the back end.
That left Cease and King as candidates for the Opening Day job. Cease started on Opening Day for the White Sox in 2023 and was in line to do so last year, before he was traded to the Padres on the day they broke camp and flew to Korea.
King, meanwhile, has never started on Opening Day, though he pitched two relief innings and picked up the win for the Yankees in 2022. Shildt said he could¡¯ve chosen either one and felt good about it. But the Padres recently aligned King¡¯s rotation turn with the Opening Day slot.
¡°He¡¯s well deserving of being Opening Day starter,¡± Shildt said. ¡°He¡¯s happy. We¡¯re excited for him. And it just puts Dylan on a regular rest that we want to be mindful of. ¡ Listen, both of them can compete for starting the All-Star Game and pitching Game 1 of the playoffs.¡±
That kind of competition, King says, has been healthy.
¡°I would not have been upset if it was Dylan or Darvish or [Nick] Pivetta or whoever he chose,¡± King said. ¡°He¡¯s got a lot of guys that he can choose from. It¡¯s that internal competition that we all have.
¡°I¡¯m going to hope to set the tone and then tell Dylan: ¡®Try to do better than that.¡¯ And that¡¯ll be throughout the whole year.¡±