Michael King starting Saturday
Nearly a decade after he turned pro, drafted out of Boston College by the Marlins in the 12th round in 2016, King will have a say in where he plays for the first time.
“We — players — always talk about that, how it’s a very exciting thing to play for,” King said Friday before the Red Sox’ series opener with the Padres. “I was traded, and I don’t have any say in that. I was traded to here, and I have no say in that. Whatever money I’m getting is strictly from that team. It’s not like I can have any bids on me. [Becoming a free agent is] a fun next step in development. I’m very excited to see which teams would like me next year.”
King has a 2.76 ERA over the past four seasons. The Red Sox could be in the market for another starting pitcher to slot in behind ace Garrett Crochet.
Does his family — or perhaps his dad, Jim King, historically a Red Sox fan (and currently a Padres supporter) — lobby for a return to New England?
Michael King smiled.
“Everybody in my family has been really good about it,” he said. “They don’t want to add any outside opinions. It’s really, ‘Wherever you’re going to be happy, that’s where we’re going to be happy.’ That’s how they’ve been handling it, which has been great for me.”
King, a 30-year-old righthander who grew up in Warwick, R.I., and starred at Bishop Hendricken, has had quite the journey. After his first full season in the minors, the Marlins dealt him to the Yankees in a low-profile trade. He pitched in parts of five seasons in the majors in the Bronx, mostly as a reliever but converting successfully to starter in 2023.
Then he got traded again, to San Diego, as part of a five-player package that sent Juan Soto to the Yankees.
Last autumn, he was the Padres’ Game 1 postseason starter. This spring, he got the ball on Opening Day. He had a 2.59 ERA in 10 starts before being sidelined by a long thoracic nerve issue that sapped his shoulder of strength.
Back to “definitely 100 percent,” King is ready for the Sox on Saturday — and whatever the next few months and the winter may bring.
“I definitely had my pity party,” King said of being injured. “But a lot of fun things have happened in these last couple of months.”
Carlos Narváez (sore left knee) will avoid the IL “as of now,” manager Alex Cora said. But he was out of the lineup for a second game in a row Friday and won’t play Saturday, either.
“He’ll probably start on Sunday,” Cora said. “We feel like he’s making progress, so we’ll go from there.”
Narváez reported feeling better Friday afternoon, completing a full slate of baseball activities, including taking batting practice on the field.
Also Friday, the Sox claimed catcher Ali Sánchez off waivers from the Blue Jays but did not add him to the 26-man roster. Sánchez is out of minor league options, so they will have to decide within a day or two whether to make room for him in the majors or cut him.
Is sending Connor Wong to Triple A an option?
“There’s a lot of possibilities,” Cora said. “When we get there, we’ll get there.”
Outfield prospect Jhostynxon Garcia’s recent work at first base is starting to get real, so much so he might play there in a game as soon as next week, Triple A Worcester manager Chad Tracy said.
“If that’s the only way we can speed him up, then we might have to do it,” Tracy said. “We take into consideration, ultimately, if he makes a mistake and it’s costly, oh well, at least it’s not at Fenway. . . . At the same time, you also don’t want to throw a player out there to the wolves who you feel like is not ready and have him standing out there with his shoulders down feeling like he’s costing the team.
“But I can tell you: The kid is all in. We mentioned it to him: ‘Yep, let’s go.’ ”
Globe staff writer Alex Speier reported from Worcester.
Tim Healey can be reached at timothy.healey@globe.com. Follow him @timbhealey.
