Michael King was all smiles as he walked off the Petco Park mound on Sunday morning. He’d thrown 44 pitches over three simulated innings. He struck out six and an infield comprised of bench coach Brian Esposito, coaching assistant Scott Stroud, coach Nick Punto and special assistant Allen Craig deftly recorded an “out” on every play in the infield.

“I didn’t see any hits,” King said with a laugh.

More importantly, no hiccups.

The left knee that sent King back to the injured list after just one start held up just fine and his stuff was more in line with what he expects.

“Velo’s good, shapes were good,” King said. “ … It’s been an easier rehab than the nerve that I had and obviously way more straightforward. If I can throw that velo and that command, I’ll be good.”

Indeed, King spent much of nearly three months on the injured list waiting for his long thoracic nerve to start firing correctly. When it did, because he was not rehabbing a soft tissue or structural compromise, his thinking was that the ramp-up would be on the quicker side as he was simply rebuilding stamina.

His left knee thought otherwise.

King felt discomfort after his first sim game and later after his lone rehab game at Triple-A El Paso. In hindsight, the knee might have had something to do with off-kilter mechanics when he allowed two runs on four hits and two walks in two innings against the Red Sox on Aug. 9 in his initial return from the injured list.

King landed returned to the injured list within the week, but an MRI did not reveal anything structural going on with his knee. He simply had it drained and was back to throwing bullpens to prepare for this ramp-up.

King is eligible to return from the injured list as soon as Monday and would seemingly be ready to retake his spot in the rotation on Friday in Minnesota, but he was not ready to discuss the next step immediately after walking off the mound Sunday.

“I have no idea,” he said. “Honestly, it’s up to them. They kept telling me just get through today.”

The current makeup of the bullpen — five high-octane relievers — would certainly make it easier for King to ease into big-league action even after throwing just 44 pitches on Sunday, although it is King’s expectation for his starts to return to normalcy to make him a “viable option” come October.

“I mean, every time (Padres manager Mike Shildt) pulls him I’m mad at him, regardless of what our bullpen looks like,” King said. “So to me, I always say starting pitching wins championships. Obviously we have an incredible bullpen, but the starters still have to go deep in the game. I’m not going to bank on going four and just turn it over to our dogs. I would love to be that guy that gives them the day off and I can cruise out there and get an easy ‘W.’

“That’s still my ultimately goal.”

 

Settling in

Will Wagner was sitting at his locker at Petco Park on Sunday morning. A day earlier, he was in El Paso’s lineup for 11 innings, starting at second base and finishing at third. And on July 31, the 27-year-old infielder was with the Toronto Blue Jays when the Padres acquired him for minor league catcher Brandon Valenzuela.

Truth be told, Wagner was somewhat happy to have a chance to catch his breath in the Pacific Coast League.

It was the second time in a year that he’d been traded to a new organization. The wrinkle this time is the trade came days after he’d traveled to and from Cooperstown for dad Billy Wagner’s Hall of Fame induction.

“Yeah, it was kind of crazy,” Wagner said. “I missed a couple of days just being there for my dad and stuff and then I get …and then get traded, so it was definitely a weird transition.

“But everything’s gone smoothly so far.”

Wagner said he was playing “Call of Duty: War Zone” with his brothers on the off-day when the Blue Jays’ front office notified him of the trade. He headed immediately to Round Rock, was in the El Paso lineup on Aug. 2 and was hitting .270/.333/.405 in 17 games with the Chihuahuas while rotating between third, second and first base when he was called up Sunday to replace the injured Jackson Merrill (ankle) in the midst of the Padres’ push for an NL West title.

“I think everyone’s paying attention,” Wagner said. “You want the team up top to win and that’s the goal, to be here and keep winning with this team. Been doing great. I just hope I can add to it.”

 

Remember the Vedder Cup

It’s been more than three months, so here’s a remember for what’s at stake this week in Seattle … in the Vedder Cup.

The Mariners swept the Petco Park half of the inaugural internet joke-turned-real (contrived) rivalry, outscoring the Padres 15-3 in three games in May.

That means the Padres have to win all three games in Seattle and outscore the Mariners by more than 12 runs. The second tiebreaker is the highest exit velocity on a recorded hit in the series, which so far is 111.7 mph on a home run from Rowdy Tellez.

Why exit velocity?

E.V., for Eddie Vedder, the Pearl Jam frontman who lived in San Diego before moving to Seattle.

Yes, Vedder is a Cubs fan, but he’s in on the “rivalry” joke and expected to be on hand, likely to present a trophy designed around a guitar from the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer.

Originally Published: August 24, 2025 at 1:32 PM PDT