“Avoided the worst”: Michael King steers clear of major surgery, to be back before spring next year
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Michael King
The Yankee bullpen suffered a crushing blow by losing Michael King to an elbow fracture last week in the eighth innings of Friday night’s 7-6 Yankees victory, but according to Jon Heyman, the righty reliever may have avoided the worst.
In the eighth inning of Friday night’s 7-6 Yankees victory, King suffered an injury. He hesitated before throwing a low, outside 0-2 slider to Orioles infielder Ramon Urias with one out. Manager Aaron Boone and a Yankees athletic trainer ran from the dugout as King walked in front of the mound clearly in discomfort. Once they got there, King said, “Elbow.” He then likely knew that his season was gone as he walked off the field.
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Michael King will rise again
The Yankees were concerned that King’s UCL would sustain enough damage to necessitate Tommy John surgery, which would have kept him out until at least 2023. As it stands, King’s injury is the latest in a string of setbacks for the Yankees’ bullpen. Chad Green is out due to Tommy John’s surgery, and the Yankees are still waiting for Zack Britton to return from the elbow surgery he had last year.
Miguel Castro is also sidelined indefinitely due to a strained right shoulder. On Friday, the Yankees put King on the 60-day disabled list. Michael King was a top high-leverage bullpen arm for manager Aaron Boone before he went down against the Baltimore Oriole at Camden Yards. In 34 appearances, the 27-year-old King had a 2.29 ERA.
Heyman reports that King’s UCL is “pretty good for a pitcher,” indicating that only the elbow fracture would require surgery and that Tommy John’s surgery is not required. Therefore, there is now hope that King might be ready as early as spring training in the following year, rather than missing the remainder of this season and probably the entire season after that.
According to FanGraphs, King finishes the season with the third-highest WAR among American League-qualified relievers. After Aroldis Chapman allowed a three-run home run on Friday night against the Orioles, he was hurt while throwing a pitch in the eighth inning.
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