Michael King watched on TV as the Yankees won the American League East on September 27 in Toronto. As of July 22, King, a right-hander who was out after a stress fracture in his throwing arm, has been at home drinking water — not champagne or beer — while his teammates rampaged north of the border.
He was on a video call with his girlfriend when a call came in from Scott Effross, another right-hander for the Yankees. “I have to take this,” King said. Suddenly he was out with Effross, some other Yankees paramedics, and the team’s catchers Jose Trevino and Kyle Higashioka.
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“You are a big part of this team. You are quiet a big part of this team,” said rookie right-hander Ron Marinaccio, echoing sentiments shared by everyone over the phone. “We haven’t forgotten that he put us on his back in the first half of the season.”
“I’m actually shocked that Scott’s phone is still working because so much beer has been thrown at it,” King said of the call. “I had to thank Scott very much for that because it made my night.”
The 27-year-old King played a pivotal role in the Yankees’ bullpen, posting a 2.29 ERA in 51 innings before his season-ending injury required surgery. Though his season ended in late July, he still ranked in the top 10 relievers with 1.7 wins over backup, according to FanGraphs.
When King was there Tuesday at Yankee Stadium after a Game 5 win over Cleveland to celebrate the Yankees’ American League Division Series, his colleagues made sure he celebrated properly this time.
“I made sure to catch him with some Budweisers,” Trevino said. “About six of them. I thought, ‘You’re not going! I’ll catch you!'”
While King was absent from the Toronto celebrations, he has made it his mission to be with the team as often as possible since his injury.
King chose to rehab his injury in New York — with the blessing of the Yankees’ physical therapists — rather than at the organization’s complex in Tampa, Fla. That allowed him to cheer and learn from a group he describes as his “best friends.”
King became an avid spectator when his pals Marinaccio and Greg Weissert, a rookie right-hander, helped fill the void left by his absence and he caught up with Effross – who found out he needed Tommy John surgery ahead of the playoffs needed – list about the injured bandage. Right-hander Clay Holmes also gave King someone to relate to, as the Closer’s own Tommy John process had sidelined him during his time as a prospect.
“I feel for him because I’ve been in his shoes a little bit,” Holmes said. “You know, having TJ and just understanding what that’s like, in a way, just missing out.”
King isn’t the only Yankees reserve man to have traveled with the team during the playoffs, in sharp contrast to Aroldis Chapman, the team’s former closer, who didn’t report for mandatory practice before the playoffs and was expelled from it The team’s roster was axed from ALDS and AL Championship Series.
Chad Green, who has been out since May with Tommy John surgery, and Zack Britton, whose own Tommy John comeback only lasted three games, were in the Bronx for the ALDS. Britton drove to Houston for the ALCS from his home in Austin, Texas, and Marinaccio left too, despite not making the roster due to a shin injury.
Green, a right-hander eligible for the free hand this offseason, didn’t venture out to Houston so he could focus on his rehab. But left-hander Britton has been hanging around at the request of general manager Brian Cashman.
“Of course it is more difficult to observe. But just being with the boys,” said Britton, another aspiring free agent, when asked why he’s still involved. “I spoke to Cash for a bit at the end of the year when I knew I probably wasn’t ready to come back after that last outing. He said, ‘We want you to stay with us.’ We have a fairly inexperienced bullpen. I only help the boys when I can.”
Britton, who has appeared in 21 career playoff games with Baltimore and the Yankees, said he has acted as a mentor from the dugout and has shared his postseason experiences with the team’s active pitchers. He knows what it’s like to pitch in front of a hostile crowd at Minute Maid Park or a raucous Yankee Stadium, or face off against Jordan Alvarez when the game is on the line.
These insights can help, but Britton isn’t exaggerating his role. He knows experience is the best teacher at this time of year.
“There are little things that happen in the postseason that might not happen in the regular season,” Britton said. “And the more you play in a higher leverage situation in the postseason, the more you realize, ‘Hey, some of these pitches are more important. You have to be smarter.’”
That’s another reason why King chose not to go.
He knows it’s worth watching in October, just as the Yankees brought Derek Jeter to the 1995 playoffs even though he didn’t list him.
“It’s good for me and my career to stay up here,” said King, who hopes to start a throwing program between late October and late November. “So I was hoping to be here for the rest of the year.”
King’s teammates are thrilled that his wish has come true. Not just because they enjoy his presence — and that of the other injured slingers — but because it will help the pitcher and his team later.
“It’s just part of our culture, what we’ve built here with the Yankees, what we’re about,” Trevino said. “He’s going to have the experience by sitting there and watching. That way, next year when we’re back here, he’ll be ready to go.”
Even Britton, a 34-year-old veteran vet, is hoping for his first taste of being close to a team fighting for a championship.
“World Series, of course I want to be at every game. For all of us, it means taking it all in,” Britton said. “It has something to do with — even if you’re not playing — just diving into what the playoffs are about.
“They bank these for the future if King is out there in a postseason game, or Chad again. It’s valuable to be here and to see how everything happens.”
Jacob Wagner contributed reporting.