Michael King dominated for three innings on Friday night, struck out eight batters, including seven in a row, and has now allowed just one earned run in 10.2 innings of work this season.
King, who posted an ERA of 4.70 in his first three seasons with the Yanks, is suddenly reaching the high 90s with his fastball while dizzying opposing hitters with nasty horizontal movement on his secondary pitches.
“He’s got that kind of starter arsenal, but it comes down to he’s starting to command it really well,” manager Aaron Boone said. “To be able to two-seam and four-seam with the fastball with really good life, the changeup…and the breaking ball is a real factor too. When he starts getting it going and gets into a rhythm, he’s capable of that.”
Despite that praise, Boone thinks it’s best for now to keep King in his current role. The 27-year-old has made 10 starts in his career, but with a full rotation and the way King has been dominating out of the bullpen, Boone would like to keep King right where he is, but won’t rule out the righty eventually finding a spot as a starter.
“Not right now, just because he’s so valuable in this role,” Boone said. “He’s closed a game, he’s able to give us a few inning like he did [Friday]. We have five starters right now, so the book is certainly not closed on that, and certainly feel like he’d be capable of that, but in the here and now, just focused on that hybrid role that is so valuable for us.”
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