MIAMI — The Yankees used an opener for a third straight game Saturday, but it was more than just a one-off for Michael King.
Because their bullpen had been getting stronger and their rotation had been getting weaker over the last two weeks, the Yankees were hoping to use their game against the Marlins as a jumping-off point for King, who opened ahead of Jhony Brito in the 3-1 loss, to stretch out his workload over the final two months of the season.
Because of their bullpen getting stronger and their rotation getting weaker over the last two weeks, the Yankees were hoping to use their game against the Marlins as a jumping-off point for King, who opened ahead of Jhony Brito in the 3-1 loss, to stretch out his workload over the final two months of the season.
That is not to say that King, a former starter, will fully return to a starting role.
There is not enough time left in the season for a reliever to build up properly to a starter’s workload, and manager Aaron Boone cautioned that the Yankees may also still need King to come out of the bullpen in high-leverage situations on certain days.
But the Yankees are at least going to see if King can start to offer more length than the two-or-three-inning relief appearances the right-hander has often given them this season.
“I definitely wanted it,” King said of the start, in which he gave up two runs in two innings on 41 pitches. “I talked to Booney about it probably a week ago and then the unfortunate Nestor [Cortes injury] news opened up an opportunity. I have no idea what’s going to happen in the future, but definitely like doing it.”
King will likely be unavailable for the next two days, but what happens next will depend on how the games play out.
If the Yankees need him for an inning out of the bullpen on Tuesday or Wednesday, they will use him. If they are able to get through those games with their other high-leverage relievers, he could be in line to build up to 50-55 pitches in his next outing.
“If it’s going to be every fifth day or whatever, then I think you can build up in four or five outings to get to a normal pitch count,” King said.
As recently as two weeks ago, the Yankees had gotten to a point at which they were comfortable using King, who fractured his pitching elbow last July, on back-to-back days for the first time this season.
But in those two weeks since, the Yankees have lost Nestor Cortes (likely for the season) and Carlos Rodon to the injured list and Domingo German (for the season) to the restricted list while also adding Jonathan Loaisiga and Keynan Middleton to their bullpen.
Randy Vasquez and Brito were both summoned from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to pitch behind openers this weekend, in place of Rodon and Cortes, and Luis Severino has been struggling mightily, so the Yankees are trying to give themselves another option in King.
“It could be something where we continue trying to build him up a little bit while also recognizing his importance [as a high-leverage reliever],” Boone said.
King, who was a starter for most of his minor league career and as recently as 2021 in the big leagues, had remained interested in returning to that role at some point. He mentioned it to Boone as early as spring training this year, when the Yankees suffered some injuries to their rotation, and then brought it up again last week. He did not think Boone was on board with it initially, but once he explained his case and then Cortes’ rotator cuff strain was revealed, it became a reality.
“I’m really just trying to be that Swiss Army knife I wanted to be coming into spring training,” King said. “If they need another starter, then great and I would love it. If they need a one-inning relief appearance, great.”
