What we learned from Michael King's long-awaited return with Padres

Michael King is back. At long last, the Padres right-handed pitcher has fought his way back to the majors after missing three months due to ominous shoulder inflammation that left fans wondering the severity of his injury.

He made a rehab start earlier this week, leaving the club confident in King's return to the mound. On Saturday night at Petco Park against the Boston Red Sox, King gave us a little bit of everything. He tossed two-plus innings, garnering one strikeout and two runs allowed.

Although it wasn't the grandest return we have ever seen, getting King back and healthy is a win in itself. San Diego is eager to make a postseason push, and having King in the starting rotation is a major step in the right direction.

Let's take a look at what we learned in his first start since May 18.

Michael King had decent mix of good and bad in Padres' return

1. He was able to mix up his pitches well

King tossed 57 pitches, and he obviously opted for his sinker the most. He threw his sinker 20 times, but blended his other pitches in extremely well: Changeup (13), sweeper (10), fastball (10), slider (4). This tells us that he is comfortable enough already to get back into regular form.

2. He can still get out of trouble

In the top of the second inning, trailing 1-0, things could have gotten much worse for King. With one out, he had the bases loaded, but induced a 5-2 groundout to get the second out. He then impressively followed that up by striking out Roman Anthony to leave three Red Sox runners stranded.

Anthony, Boston's leadoff hitter, entered that at-bat hitting 5-for-15 with two outs and runners in scoring position this season. This punch-out was King's only strikeout, and it couldn't have have come at a better time.

3. Red Sox's best hitter got the better of Michael King

Alex Bregman has been Boston's top hitter this season, producing an OPS over .900 in his inaugural campaign with the Red Sox. He was all over King on Saturday night, and he made him pay for his mistakes.

Bregman doubled twice off of King, taking advantage of two off-speed pitches that King left over the plate too much. King had started both at-bats by getting strikes on Bregman with a fastball or sweeper, but did't opt for either pitch to try and put the veteran third baseman away.

This isn't a red flag for King, but if he was able to show some prowess against the opposition's best hitter, that would've sold Padres fans that he is ready for a postseason push right out of the gate.

4. Too many pitches

Throwing 57 pitches to record only six outs isn't ideal, but again, this is King's for first MLB start in three months. We can expect him to get back on track soon, and pitch more efficiently.