The education — and evolution — of Padres pitcher Stephen Kolek

The education — and evolution — of Padres pitcher Stephen Kolek

Michael King was fine. Well not fine, but the 7.76 ERA he was sporting as a rookie in 2020 wasn’t that bad if you looked at the peripherals. For one, his batting average on balls in play was bloated. So was his homer-to-flyball ratio, so much so that his expected ERA was several rungs below the actual number. So he was fine, the Yankees told him. But … “I can’t just sit there and hope that luck turns back for me,” King recalled. “I’ve got to do …