Padres’ Michael King (nerve issue) to remain out through All-Star break

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LOS ANGELES — Michael King, the San Diego Padres’ No. 1 starter and a key to their hopes of staying in postseason contention, is expected to remain sidelined through at least the All-Star break, manager Mike Shildt confirmed Wednesday.

“I think that’s pretty accurate,” Shildt said when asked about that potential timeline. “I mean, I don’t think we can even put a date on it.”

King has not pitched or done much more than play light catch since he awoke May 24 with discomfort in his throwing shoulder. The right-hander was scratched from a scheduled start that day against the Atlanta Braves and was later diagnosed with a pinched nerve. Though the Padres have not disclosed their findings regarding the origin of the injury, Shildt has said King’s ailment is relatively unprecedented among major-league players.

“It’s just a nerve that’s hard to get to, to treat,” Shildt said Wednesday. “There’s no real clear treatment to it. It’s just more about trying to treat it more holistically.”

The headliner of San Diego’s return in its December 2023 trade of star outfielder Juan Soto, King logged 173 2/3 innings and a 2.95 earned-run average last season. The former New York Yankees reliever then delivered seven shutout frames in San Diego’s clinching win over the Braves in the National League Wild Card Series. This season, he started on Opening Day and supplied a 2.59 ERA in 10 starts before he went on the injured list.

Shildt said King has continued to keep his arm “moving as best he can” by throwing plyometric balls and playing light catch with an actual baseball. “But it’s to his tolerance and feel,” Shildt added. “It’s not like, hey, he’s going to get 15 throws at 60 feet and go to 70 feet. We’re not close to that.

“It’s really more about just getting the treatment, staying in touch with the medical group, continuing to find the best practices to try to release the nerve … looking for marginal improvement, which we are getting. But they’re incrementally small (steps), and it’s more about rest and figuring out the best way to treat what he has.”

King, 30, could be the most coveted pitcher in this winter’s free-agent class. For now, though, his injury is clouding his status.

King and the Padres avoided salary arbitration in January, agreeing to a $7.75 million contract that includes a $15 million mutual option for 2026 and a $3.75 million buyout of that option. At the time of the deal, which was designed to help the Padres with cash-flow issues, it was understood that King almost certainly would decline the option.

King’s injury history includes an elbow fracture with the Yankees that ended his 2022 season. With the Padres, he had not reported any significant problems until that morning in Atlanta last month, now more than three weeks ago.

“The further away he is from it, the longer it takes to get back,” Shildt said.

Though King’s recovery timetable remains uncertain, there is hope — but not certainty — that another key Padres starter could make his season debut sometime around the All-Star break. Yu Darvish threw in a simulated game Saturday, and the right-hander is scheduled to throw in another this weekend in San Diego. Darvish, 38, has not pitched in the majors this season because of recurring elbow inflammation.

(Top photo: Orlando Ramirez / Getty Images)

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