Yankees plan to keep converted reliever in starting rotation

Right-hander Michael King transitioned from a relief role to a starting gig this year, and the results were encouraging enough that the Yankees will give him a chance to stick in the rotation next year. Both King himself and manager Aaron Boone tell Greg Joyce of The New York Post that the righty will go into the offseason preparing to take on a starter’s workload in 2024. “I’m looking forward to seeing how we go 150-plus innings,” King says.

King, now 28, came into 2023 with most of his major league work having come as a reliever. 56 of his 66 appearances were out of the bullpen and even his 10 starts were mostly in the range of three or four innings, making him more of a bulk guy than a true starter. He seemed destined for another year in that capacity but his role shifted as the season wore on. The club endured significant injuries in their rotation, with Frankie Montas, Carlos Rodón, Nestor Cortes and Luis Severino all missing extended stretches of time.

The one silver lining of those injuries is that King was asked to cover for those absences and ended up thriving. His final eight outings of the year were all starts and he posted an earned run average of 1.88 in that time, striking out 31.4% of batters while walking just 5.9%. When combined with his work earlier in the year, he had a 2.75 ERA on the season as a whole, logging 104 2/3 innings.

That finish to the season constitutes a very small sample size but it’s understandable that the Yankees are willing to see if that can be pushed further. Even if he can’t quite maintain that excellent form, a slight bit of regression could still have him in position to be a serviceable starter.

The extra workload will come with health concerns, as King’s innings tally in 2023 was already his largest as a major leaguer. He has been in the range of 150 innings as a minor leaguer, but he’s a few years removed from that now. He tossed 149 frames on the farm in 2017 and then 161 1/3 in 2018, but then was well below that in subsequent campaigns. That included his 2022 season being ended by an elbow fracture in July after 51 frames.

That creates some uncertainty about how his arm will hold up next year, but it seems the Yankees will take a shot on him, with plenty of room available for King to stick in the rotation. Montas and Severino are both set to reach free agency in a few short weeks, leaving a series of question marks behind ace Gerrit Cole. Both Rodón and Cortes will be in the mix but neither of them cracked 65 innings in 2023 due to their respective ailments. Clarke Schmidt will be involved as well after registering a decent 4.64 ERA this year, though he seems ticketed for a back-end or depth role. Randy Vásquez and Yoendrys Gómez are on the 40-man but each has very limited major league experience thus far. The same goes for Luis Gil, who underwent Tommy John surgery in May of 2022.

Of course, the Yankees will also have the entire offseason to bring in free agents or trade acquisitions before King reports to Spring Training, but that’s a hurdle he seems happy to have in front of him. “I’ve always said, it’s almost more fun and more of a challenge if they do sign a couple guys and in Spring Training, [I’m] coming in and saying, ‘You’re going to realize that I’m better than what you’re putting out there,’ ” King said at the end of the regular season. “That sounds cocky, but that’s the approach you gotta have when you’re trying to get the spot you want.”

If King is able to successfully hang onto a rotation gig going forward, it would be a nice development for the club but for him personally as well, with starters having greater earning power than relievers. King made $1.3MM in 2023, his first time qualifying for arbitration. The arbitration projections of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz suggest he’ll effectively double that and get to the $2.6MM range in 2024. He would then be due one more arbitration raise in 2025 before he’s slated for free agency heading into the 2026 season.