Yankees Prospect Profile: Right-hander Michael King

The Yankees organization has been known for the past couple of seasons to possess a number of high-end pitching prospects in the minors. Michael King is no exception, as the righty shot up prospects boards after a tremendous 2018 campaign.

The 23-year old was originally drafted by the Miami Marlins in the 12th round of the 2016 MLB Draft out of Boston College. After the conclusion of the 2017 season, the Yankees traded 1B Garrett Cooper and LHP Caleb Smith to Miami in exchange for King and international bonus pool money. Cooper and Smith were traded to clear space on the 40-man roster, while King didn’t require a spot.

Viewed as a “throw in” at the time, the Yankees have to be thrilled with King’s rapid development and climb up prospect lists. King posted average numbers in 2016 as a reliever between three different teams, pitching to a 4.11 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 30.2 innings pitched. However, King improved significantly in his first full season as a starting pitcher with Single-A Greensboro in 2017:

2017: 11-9 W-L, 3.14 ERA, 26 G (25 GS), 149.0 IP, 106 K, 55 R (52 ER), 21 BB

So let’s simplify this: King has his first year of success in the minors; then all-of-a-sudden he’s traded to the Yankees in November 2017.

For a farm system that at the time consisted of notable hurlers such as Justus Sheffield, Albert Abreu, Chance Adams, Jonathan Loaisiga, and Domingo German, King seemed to be lower on the totem pole in terms of “prospect glimmer.”

However, King miraculously made the jump in 2018 from High-A Tampa, to Double-A Trenton, and then to Triple-A Scranton Wilkes/Barre, all in just one season. That is practically unheard of in today’s game, and King did it in his first year with a new organization. As the righty climbed each level, his dominance on the mound shined even more after each start.

These were King’s numbers at each level in 2018:

High-A Tampa: 1-3 W-L, 1.79 ERA, 40.1 IP, 33 H, 15 R (8 ER), 45 K, 4.50 K/BB

Double-A Trenton: 6-2 W-L, 2.09 ERA, 82.0 IP, 65 H, 23 R (19 ER), 76 K, 8.3 K/BB

Triple-A Scranton Wilkes/Barre: 4-0 W-L, 1.15 ERA, 39.0 IP, 20 H, 5 R (5 ER), 31 K, 5.17 K/BB

2018 Overall: 11-5 W-L, 1.79 ERA, 161.1 IP, 118 H, 43 R (32 ER), 152 K, 5.24 K/BB

King’s strikeout-to-walk ratio is underwhelming only because he isn’t a strikeout-reliant pitcher. The righty boasted a 1.6 BB/9 IP rate, helping his case. What King does extremely well is he induces ground balls, as he averaged a 52.9 % ground ball rate across all three levels in 2018.

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In comparison, the only Major League pitcher to have a ground ball rate better then King was Astros left-hander Dallas Keuchel, who sported a 53.7 % ground ball rate. King would also be just ahead of Phillies righties’ Jake Arrieta (51.6 %) and Aaron Nola (50.6 %). Although all three a proven veterans and King is a minor leaguer, it’s interesting to see how the righty compares.

According to MLB.com’s Top 30 Prospect Rankings, King rated as the Yankees #22 prospect in the system. It’s believed that King will be ranked much higher when the 2019 rankings are revealed later this month.

While no announcement has been made just yet, it’s expected that King will start the 2019 season at Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre, considering his dominance in such a short period of time. Additionally, it was announced on February 1 that King was one of 21 non-roster invites to Spring Training.

King definitely needs more seasoning and experience in Triple-A to begin the season, but there’s no doubt we could be seeing the righty in the Bronx in 2019 sooner rather than later.