Michael King ‘disappointed’ he won’t face Yankees in this series

SAN DIEGO — About 10 days ago, Michael King began to look at the Padres’ schedule to find out whether he might actually get to face his old team.

If not for some rain in Atlanta last weekend, which jumbled the rotation and bumped him back a day, King may have just gotten his wish.

Instead, King was left trying to help out on scouting reports of his former teammates with the Yankees in town this weekend for the first time since the right-hander was the headliner of the package going back to the Padres in the Juan Soto blockbuster.

“Pretty disappointed [not to be facing the Yankees],” King said Friday afternoon. “I think it would have been fun. I was telling [pitching coach Ruben Niebla], I was begging to change the rotation around once we had that rainout. But it’s also — they’re a very, very good team, so maybe it wouldn’t have gone so well. It would have been a great challenge but I think it would have been fun to see a lot of my friends in the box. But it’ll be just as fun to root against them from the dugout.”

While King was sad to leave the Yankees and the friendships he had built in New York, getting traded to the Padres also solidified the opportunity for him to be a full-time starting pitcher this season.

The Yankees moved King from the bullpen to the rotation last August, partly out of necessity because of injuries, and the right-hander thrived, posting a 1.88 ERA across eight starts to end the season.