SAN DIEGO — Throughout Michael King’s rehab from a right shoulder and nerve injury, the Padres and King have been extremely hesitant to put any sort of timeline on his potential return. It’s a unique injury, and King’s health is paramount. They won’t rush him back.
But on Thursday — after King threw his first formal bullpen session since he sustained the injury — it was pointed out to King that his bobblehead night is Aug. 20. It was then suggested to King that his own bobblehead night might be a good day to return. He gave a skeptical look and offered the first hint of a potential target date for his return to the mound.
“It’ll be well before that,” King said. “That would not be a good one.”
Though they won’t share it publicly, King and the Padres’ medical staff have mapped out his entire recovery plan. It sure sounds like they’re looking at a date before Aug. 20 — and potentially “well before” it.
That would be a major boost to a Padres rotation that has dealt with injuries all season but welcomed Yu Darvish back from the injured list on Monday night.
Now that King’s long thoracic nerve is firing, he says he’s taking an aggressive approach to his rehab. King hasn’t pitched since mid-May, but tests revealed no structural damage in his shoulder. He simply needed a month of rest and only light catch until that nerve began functioning as it should.
“It starts with being pain-free, which Michael is,” said Padres manager Mike Shildt, “then continuing to maintain and increase his strength, continuing to be able to go out and throw and increase the intensity.”
Indeed, now that King’s nerve is firing as it should, it’s simply a matter of building King to a regular workload — an expedited Spring Training, if you will. On that front, the bullpen session Thursday was a step in the right direction.
King had thrown off a mound on two previous occasions, but Thursday was the first formal bullpen session. He threw 25 pitches, mixing all of his different offerings.
“It’s just making sure that I’m still operating correctly and I’m not compensating for anything,” King said. “Knock on wood, I haven’t been. So everything’s been feeling great. It’s more of an aggressive throwing program. I’ve been battling with [the Padres’ medical staff] to make sure it’s aggressive.”
Clearly, the Padres could use King at the front of their rotation again. He was their Opening Day starter. Through 10 starts this season, he posted a 2.59 ERA before he was scratched from a May 24 start in Atlanta with the first symptoms of the nerve issue — a knot in the scapula area of his right shoulder.
From there, the diagnosis wasn’t a straightforward one, mostly because King’s specific injury is highly uncommon among baseball players. But after he was diagnosed — and after tests revealed no structural damage to his shoulder — the path to his recovery became clear.
He was told it would take four to six weeks before his nerve began firing again. Sure enough, about five weeks later, King started to feel normal again. He began to ramp up his catch play in late June.
On Thursday, King donned his full uniform for the first time to throw his bullpen session. He was clearly pleased with how it went and was asked afterward if he was surprised at how good he felt.
“I’ve been feeling really good for the last two weeks,” King said. “So not necessarily surprised. Surprised at the command, I guess. I had no expectations going in … and command of everything was good.”
It’s a start. King’s next step, at some point, will be facing hitters in a live setting. He’s probably bound to make a rehab start or two, as well. Reading into his bobblehead-related timeline, King’s return could come in early August.
Until then, the Padres will continue pushing forward with what they’ve got. With Darvish back in the fold, they have a fairly formidable front three of Nick Pivetta, Dylan Cease and Darvish. Randy Vásquez has emerged as a reliable back-end presence. For the final spot, Ryan Bergert will return from a forearm bruise to start Friday, and Stephen Kolek will be an option after the All-Star break.
Then — ideally at some point before King’s bobblehead night — the rotation should get another shakeup, when it welcomes back one of its most important pieces.