The Rangers recalled King from Triple-A Round Rock on Thursday.
Ian Kennedy has been designated for assignment in a corresponding move. King will join the Texas bullpen ahead of Thursday's series opener against the Athletics after pitching to a 2.08 ERA through 17.1 innings this season at Triple-A.
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Rangers' John King: Optioned to Triple-A
Rotowire
The Rangers optioned King to Triple-A Round Rock on Wednesday.
King had a rough go of it in the Cactus League with a 5.06 ERA, 1.78 WHIP and 12:4 K:BB over 10.2 innings of work. The southpaw will begin the season in the Pacific Coast League, but he likely will see time in the Texas bullpen as an up-and-down option for the club for the 2023 campaign.
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Rangers' John King: Returns to majors
Rotowire
King was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock on Sunday.
The 27-year-old was demoted to Triple-A on Aug. 18 but will rejoin the big-league club after Dallas Keuchel was designated for assignment. King has appeared in 31 games for the Rangers this year and has a 4.67 ERA, 1.56 WHIP and 24:13 K:BB over 34.2 innings.
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Rangers' John King: Returns to big leagues
Rotowire
King was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock on Wednesday.
King has a 4.70 ERA over his last five big-league appearances and is coming off a stint at Triple-A Round Rock where he generated a 9.00 ERA and 1.73 WHIP across 11 innings. King will rejoin the Rangers after they placed Spencer Howard (shoulder) on the 15-day IL retroactive to Monday.
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Rangers' John King: Heading to Triple-A
Rotowire
King was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock on Wednesday.
King has been a piece of Texas' bullpen all season but will now make his way to the minors. He has a 4.60 ERA, 1.63 WHIP and 22:13 K:BB across 31.1 innings this season.
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Rangers' John King: Can't hold lead
Rotowire
King allowed one run on two hits while striking out one in one inning during Wednesday's 4-3 loss to the Rays in extra innings.
King, who's pitched well recently, came on in eighth inning to protect a one-run lead after starter Jon Gray's gem of an outing. Unfortunately, King blew the save -- the second eighth-inning blown save over his last three appearances -- and the Rangers lost in extras.
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Rangers' John King: Earns sixth hold
Rotowire
King struck out one over a scoreless eighth inning to earn the hold in Tuesday's 3-0 win over the Rays.
King followed up a dominant start by Martin Perez by pitching a perfect eighth inning. The hold was the sixth for King, who's scooped up three over the last six appearances. The left-hander has allowed a worrisome number of walks -- nine in 20 innings -- but he's avoided serious damage and pitched better during his recent six-game stretch. Five of those six outings have been scoreless and four have been perfect innings of relief.
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Rangers' John King: Earns shaky hold
Rotowire
King allowed two hits and a walk while striking out two over 1.2 scoreless innings in Tuesday's 6-4 win over the Royals.
King earned his second hold, but he allowed two inherited runners to score. The left-hander has managed to sidestep serious damage despite allowing 21 baserunners over 13.1 innings -- only two of his 13 appearances have been clean. King has a 2.70 ERA which stands in contrast to a 4.22 FIP.
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Rangers' John King: Rustles up easy win
Rotowire
King (1-0) allowed zero hits and one walk over 1.1 scoreless relief innings to pick up the win over the Angels on Thursday.
Starter Dane Dunning was pulled after eight outs and 86 pitches, but the Rangers were coasting at the time with an 8-2 lead. Dunning's inefficiency created a chance for King to collect his first win of 2022. King, who worked as a multi-inning reliever in 2021, vultured seven wins out of the bullpen last season, when Texas starters often needed relief. The rotation is off to a similar start this season (6.85 ERA while averaging four innings per start), so guys like King could be needed often in the middle innings. Mix in a potent offense (fourth in runs scored so far) and the recipe is there for more relief wins.
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Rangers' John King: Full go for spring
Rotowire
King (shoulder) is expected to be a full participant during the Rangers' spring camp, Kennedi Landry of MLB.com reports.
King has yet to make his 2022 Cactus League debut, but that shouldn't be far away now that the Rangers are giving him full clearance after he underwent thoracic outlet syndrome surgery in September. Though the track record of pitchers returning from the procedure isn't promising, King has apparently been free of setbacks in his recovery and should have a chance at making the Opening Day bullpen if he fares well in his spring outings. King still has three minor-league options remaining, so it wouldn't be too surprising if the Rangers took a cautious approach and sent him to Triple-A Round Rock to begin the season so he can attempt to regain form in a lower-pressure setting.
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Rangers' John King: Undergoes surgery
Rotowire
King will miss the remainder of the season after recently undergoing thoracic outlet syndrome surgery, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.
King was initially sidelined in July with what was described as shoulder inflammation. It's now been revealed that he's dealing with thoracic outlet syndrome, but the surgery should have him ready to go come spring training. King posted a 3.52 ERA and 40:12 K:BB across 46 innings this season, which should leave him as a candidate for high-leverage innings entering 2022 if he makes a full recovery.
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Rangers' John King: Shifts to 60-day injured list
Rotowire
King (shoulder) was transferred to the 60-day injured list Friday.
King has been out since early July with shoulder inflammation but was trending toward a return before suffering a setback in a rehab outing last week. Previous reports indicated he still had a chance to return before the end of August, but he's now ineligible to do so prior to Sept. 5.
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Rangers' John King: Return delayed
Rotowire
King (shoulder) experienced renewed soreness following his second rehab appearance Aug. 13 at Triple-A Round Rock, but he's expected to return from the 10-day injured list before the Rangers' upcoming homestand concludes Sept. 1, MLB.com reports.
Texas had been hopeful that King would be ready to return from the IL on Tuesday, but the setback during the rehab assignment derailed those plans. Ideally, King will make at least one more appearance in the minors with no renewed discomfort before reclaiming a spot in the Texas bullpen.
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Rangers' John King: Nearing return
Rotowire
Texas manager Chris Woodward said King (shoulder) is expected to rejoin the team soon, Joseph Hoyt of the Dallas Morning News reports.
King made a second rehab appearance Friday for Triple-A Round Rock, striking out two over a scoreless relief inning. He's made two one-inning appearances for the Express, which is a departure from his usage prior to the injury. King averaged nearly two innings per outing and had been gearing up to enter the rotation at the time of his injury.
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Rangers' John King: Could throw off mound soon
Rotowire
King (shoulder) could throw off a mound by this weekend, Joseph Hoyt of the Dallas Morning News reports.
King began a throwing program this week, but the Rangers won't determine the next steps until they see him on the mound. The left-hander was placed on the 10-day injured list prior to the All-Star break while building up to become a starter.
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Rangers' John King: Earns relief win
Rotowire
King (6-5) allowed three runs (two earned) on zero hits and one walk while striking out three over three-plus relief innings to pick up the win over Oakland on Thursday.
King relieved starter Dane Dunning after four innings -- exiting after four or five innings has been the norm for Dunning in 2021 -- and provided bulk relief. For the second consecutive outing, King set down the first nine batters he faced before tiring during a fourth inning of work. A hit batter, a walk and his own throwing error ended the left-hander's night, and all three runners came around to score. King is being stretched out for a possible starting role, but his highest pitch count thus far is 55. The Rangers may instead keep him in a tandem role with Dunning, whose innings are being managed this season.
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Rangers' John King: Logs 3.2 relief innings
Rotowire
King allowed two runs on three hits and struck out three over 3.2 innings of relief in Friday' 9-4 win over the Royals.
King worked three perfect innings and retired 11 straight before tiring while setting season highs for both number of pitches and innings. The Rangers are stretching out the left-hander to potentially fill a starting role, and he should get opportunities to increase his pitch count when working in tandem with starter Dane Dunning. The Rangers want to limit Dunning, who has thrown just 34 innings since 2018, so it's an ideal situation in which to build up King's stamina.
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Rangers' John King: Could join rotation
Rotowire
The Rangers are prepping King to potentially join the starting rotation, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports.
King, who has been a starter in the minors, has served as a multi-inning reliever for the Rangers in 2021, including a three-inning, season-high 38-pitch effort against Minnesota on Saturday. "He's got multiple pitches. He's got good command. He can get through innings quickly because of his sinker. It made sense to us to see what that at least looks like going into the second half of the season and see what we've got," manager Chris Woodward said. The Rangers will likely push King's pitch count higher the next time out. It may make sense for Texas, losers in 19 of the last 22 games and 20 games below .500, to move on from veterans Mike Foltynewicz (5.59 ERA, 17 HR, 74 IP) and Jordan Lyles (5.68 ERA, 16 HR, 71.1 IP).
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Rangers' John King: Takes loss in relief
Rotowire
King (5-5) was tagged with the loss in relief Saturday against Minnesota. He gave up one run on two walks and a strikeout across three innings.
King was unable to hold up the 2-2 tie and gave up the deciding run in the top of the seventh after Max Kepler scored on a wild pitch. The left-hander has given up runs in three of his last four outings but still owns a decent 3.18 ERA across 11.1 innings this month (six appearances).
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Rangers' John King: Starting build-up
Rotowire
King will begin building up to pitch longer outings and possibly start games, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News reports.
The lefty will appear in relief Saturday and will begin pitching on a more regular schedule afterwards. Texas hopes King, who posted a 2.40 ERA in 19 minor-league starts in 2019, can provide some much-needed rotation depth.
