Former Yankees from Juan Soto trade dominate in Padres’ Game 1 Wild Card win

The guys that went the other way in the Juan Soto trade just laid down the postseason gauntlet. The San Diego Padres got off to a fast start against the Atlanta Braves thanks to former Yankees Michael King and Kyle Higashioka.

The two helped lead the Padres to a dominant 4-0 Game one win in their Wild Card series on Tuesday and Petco Park was absolutely rocking.

King, who surprisingly got the Game 1 nod from manager Mike Shildt, pitched seven shutout innings, allowing only four singles and a double while striking out 12. He was efficient, too, getting through 26 batters on only 89 pitches.

Higgy drove in the Padres third run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the secnd inning, and then added another dagger with a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth to pad the lead heading into the ninth.

Former Yankees from Juan Soto trade dominate in Padres’ Game 1 Wild Card win

The 29-year-old King has emerged as a co-ace this year alongside Dylan Cease for San Diego, posting a 13-9 record with a 2.95 ERA in 31 games (30 starts) over 173 2/3 innings with 201 strikeouts in the regular season. That was good for a 4.0 fWAR, which ranks him 13th among qualified MLB starters for 2024.

Along with Cease, Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish, the Padres rotation is built for the postseason, with Darvish likely pushed to the bullpen in this NLWC series. King certainly set the right tone for his rotation mates, and had admirable support from Higgy.

In nine postseason games with New York from 2020-2022, Higashioka had five hits in 26 at-bats, including a home run and two RBI in the 2020 ALDS against Tampa Bay. King’s last postseason appearance was in a Game 3 loss to Tampa in 2020, when he was in mop-up duty and logged two scoreless innings.

On Tuesday he mowed through a Braves lineup missing injured 2023 NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr., who is out with a torn left ACL, as well as 2023 All Star and Silver Slugger third baseman Austin Riley, whose right hand was fractured by Angels’ Jack Kochanowicz’s 97 mph fastball on Aug. 18.

There's no doubt Atlanta’s lineup was a bit gassed, too, after Monday’s doubleheader against the Mets in Atlanta, followed by a cross-country flight to San Diego. Regardless, King and Higashioka showed no mercy as the Padres returned to the playoffs for the first time since losing the NLCS 4-1 to the Philadelphia Phillies in 2022.

Soto will get a chance to answer starting Saturday at Yankee Stadium in the ALDS against the winner of the Orioles-Royals Wild Card series. With the 2019 World Series under his belt, he’s ready to prove why he’s worth $500+ million as a free agent this offseason. In 29 playoff games, the 25-year old superstar has slashed .261/.349/.495 (an OPS of .845) with seven home runs and 21 RBI.

Following a monster 7.9 bWAR season with 41 home runs and a .989 OPS, which was 78% better than the MLB average, Soto is primed and ready to show why Brian Cashman gave up King, Higgy and three pitching prospects to get him. Nonetheless, it's nice to see former Yankees having success elsewhere.