The path from reliever to starter is not an easy one for most pitchers. There’s a stigma around it due to the high-profile attempts that went wrong in the past, but there’s been a recent wave of pitchers trying to make this leap. We’ve seen varying levels of success from pitchers like Jordan Hicks and Michael Lorenzen. Michael King, however, seems to have settled into this role as well as anyone.
He started this transition last season, showing a lot of promise with the Yankees, and boosting his trade value, leading to him becoming the centerpiece of the return in the Soto trade. He then immediately stumbled out of the gates with the Padres, his velocity cratering and his normally excellent command becoming shaky. These are the two main concerns when pitchers attempt to leave the bullpen for the rotation. Stretching out for 100-pitch outings instead of letting it fly for a single inning can lead to stuff loss. Furthermore, the change in routine from throwing 100% effort with every pitch to conserving energy for a full start can lead to pitchers getting out of sync and their control failing them.
Admittedly, I pretty much wrote off King as a starter after his first couple of outings went so poorly. I was wrong. He’s made adjustments to be able to find success with his new arsenal, downgraded as it may be. It’s still more than enough to be an effective starter, and with more innings under his belt, he’s regained his command. Let’s dive into what he has to offer now, and why he’s been able to do what so many other pitchers haven’t.
The Stuff
King doesn’t have a “primary” pitch, so to speak, as he throws his main four with similar regularity. His sinker is the one he leads with though, and it’s a solid foundation to build an arsenal around. He doesn’t throw it super hard, but its excellent horizontal movement and exceptional seam effects make it difficult for hitters to track. This is further aided by King’s crossbody delivery, as he twists around his front leg and hides the ball until the very end of his motion. His ability to consistently land this pitch on the glove side of the zone has put it in the 92nd percentile for called strike rate.
King’s other fastball is the one that tends to get him into the most trouble. While his sinker doesn’t get many ground balls, it manages contact better than his 4-seam. He uses both of his fastballs against both lefties and righties but switches their usage based on the platoon matchup. The issue is that his 4-seam relies almost entirely on how it plays off the rest of his arsenal as it has a fairly uninteresting shape. Unlike some other pitchers, I think his raising his arm slot to throw it doesn’t tip it to hitters due to his unique delivery. He still gets an above-average chase rate with it. The spin direction and activity being so similar helps with that. He could probably stand to be a bit less aggressive with this pitch though. This isn’t necessarily a pitch he should be aiming to throw in the zone as much as he does. It’s fine when used properly, but it could use some work.
His changeup has been his most effective pitch this season, his ability to locate it has led to phenomenal results. It doesn’t hurt that this pitch is solid from a stuff standpoint. He throws it more than anything else to lefties for a reason, it plays well off of his 4-seam with good vertical and excellent horizontal separation. What was once more of a back-pocket pitch for him as a reliever hasn’t run into any problems with the increase in usage. It’s potentially his best offering, even above his better-known sinker and sweeper.
His sweeper is the pitch you’ve probably seen before even if you haven’t watched any of his starts. It’s a Pitching Ninja staple with its horizontal movement from a wide release making it look like it’s being pulled to the bottom left corner of your screens. Since sweepers have become so popular and King moved to a starting role, his has become substantially less special, but it’s still a plus offering. He locates it surprisingly well for a pitch with so much movement, usually only missing too far out of the zone rather than down the middle. It gets called strikes and whiffs with no issue, and it tunnels well with the sinker.
His tighter gyro slider is a more developmental offering that he only started using this season. Its results have been pretty ugly but I like this pitch. He just needs to work on where his misses wind up. He’s shown an ability to land it down and off the glove side of the zone, which is exactly where you want it. The issue is when he misses, it’s been in hittable locations. I think this pitch has good potential, and a hard gyro breaker like this one could help him in platoon matchups, which have been his biggest struggle this year.
The Outlook And What He Could Do Better
As a reliever, King dominated with excellent stuff and deception, enhanced by solid command. Now as a starter, he’s made the necessary adjustments to deal with the downgrade to his stuff. There’s still more to be done, however.
As good as he is at hitting the glove side of the zone for strikes with his sinker, I’d like to see him keep those lower to try to induce more ground balls. Sinkers are largely meant to be contact-managing, arsenal-opening pitches. His is doing the latter, but he’s not getting ground balls with it despite movement that lends itself well to that. I feel like this is something I harp on with most pitchers who throw sinkers, but I’d like to see him try running it in on righties more. This is something most pitchers who throw sinkers should try, but he seems especially well-suited for it.
As previously stated, his 4-seam is fine but not much more than that. Ordinarily, I’d suggest throwing a mediocre pitch less, but with how it helps the rest of his arsenal, namely his sinker and changeup, I think the damage it gives up would wind up shifting to his other pitches in its absence. It’s kind of like that cutter some pitchers throw that gets hammered but makes their other pitches perform even better than they would otherwise. It’s a necessary part of his arsenal, I just wish he’d be a bit more careful with it.
I don’t have much in the way of critiques for his changeup or sweeper. He executes both of these pitches well, throws them an appropriate amount, and they do their job well.
If I could make a request of King, it would be that he not give up on his new gyro slider. I know the results haven’t been great. However, I think it could turn into a key part of his arsenal in time. One that takes pressure off of his 4-seam against lefties, and serves as a bridge between his sinker and sweeper.
If we’re being honest, you probably didn’t need me to tell you that King’s move to the rotation has worked out well for everyone involved. I more so wanted to convince anyone who still has doubts about him that he has all the tools to make it work. Now that he’s had time to settle in, he’s done just about everything necessary to succeed in his new role, and there’s still potentially more for him to unlock. When a pitcher who already racks up whiffs and called strikes about as well as anyone in the league might have another gear he can reach, that’s a scary thing. This might only be the beginning of King’s ascension.