Michael King Injury: Struggles in first rehab start

King (shoulder) yielded six runs on four hits, one walk and one hit batsman over 3.1 innings in his first rehab start with Triple-A El Paso on Sunday. He struck out five batters.

King served up a pair of home runs and needed 61 pitches to cover his 3.1 frames. He averaged 92.2 miles per hour with his sinker and 92.7 mph with his four-seamer in the outing, which were both down a bit from his season averages. Some rust from King is not a surprise, as he was making his first game appearance since May 18 as he comes back from a pinched thoracic nerve in his right shoulder. Getting stretched out to 61 pitches means King could require just one more rehab start before coming off the 60-day injured list and rejoining the Padres rotation in mid-August.