After the 2018 season, all signs pointed to Michael King being an important part of the Yankees’ future pitching plans. Acquired in a deal with the Marlins during the 2017-18 offseason, King pitched at three levels (Class-A Advanced, Double-A, and Triple-A) during his first year in the organization, and the highest ERA he had was 2.09 at Trenton. His marks in Tampa and Scranton were lower than 2.00. Overall, he delivered a 1.79 ERA and 152/29 K/BB ratio over 161 1/3 frames in 2018.
Then, 2019 came, and King started experiencing elbow issues in February. The Yankees played it cautiously, and he pitched only 46 minor league innings that year with shaky results, though he did earn a cup of coffee in the majors that September (tossing a couple scoreless frames).