August 26: King has been placed on release waivers, according to the MLB.com transaction log. That was inevitable after the DFA, as the southpaw could refuse a minor league assignment while retaining his salary after crossing the five-year service line midseason. Assuming he’s not claimed off release waivers, King will reach free agency.
August 23: The Marlins announced this morning that they have recalled right-hander Jack Ralston from Triple-A Jacksonville. Ralston saw his contract selected earlier this month, but he was immediately optioned to Triple-A, so he’ll be making his big league debut when he gets into a game. To clear active roster space for Ralston, left-hander John King has been designated for assignment. The team’s 40-man roster stands at 39 with the move.
King joined the Marlins on a one-year, $1.5MM guarantee back in February. He was coming off a middling 4.66 ERA in 48 1/3 innings for the Cardinals last year. He had an excellent 59.2% ground ball rate, but he didn’t get many strikeouts and struggled to keep the ball in the park. Still, the hope was that King could provide Miami with stable innings as a veteran lefty in the middle innings, ideally while cutting back on the home runs. King gave up 0.75 home runs per nine innings in 2024, but that rose to 1.49 HR/9 in 2025.
King’s 2026 numbers are improved in some ways, but there are troubling signs under the surface. He has a serviceable 3.99 ERA in 49 2/3 innings for the Marlins, and while his 47.2% ground ball rate is a marked drop from last year’s 59.2% mark, it’s still solidly above league average.
On the flip side, King has lost velocity across the board, including 2.6 mph on his sinker and 2.2 mph on his slider, the latter being his primary pitch. He is also getting extremely lucky, as opposing hitters are batting just .191 on balls in play off King this year. That low BABIP and the velocity issues point to King being a less effective pitcher than implied by the 3.99 ERA. Indeed, he has regressed mightily since the calendar turned to August. He entered the month with a 2.51 ERA in 43 innings. In contrast, he has a 13.50 ERA in seven August appearances totaling 6 2/3 innings.
Evidently, the Marlins felt that bringing up Ralston was worth King losing his roster spot. The latter now heads into DFA limbo. Between his ground ball rates, stronger performance earlier this year, and still-recent track record of success (2.85 ERA with the Cardinals in 2024), King is a candidate to be claimed by a team needing a lefty relief option. His $1.5MM salary isn’t prohibitive, and only $280.7K of that remains to be paid through the end of the season. If King ends up clearing waivers, he has enough service time to elect free agency while still being paid the remainder of that salary.
Ralston’s selection on August 4th was the first time he made it onto a 40-man roster. Originally a seventh-round draft pick by the Cardinals in 2019, he is now 28 years old and is not considered a meaningful prospect. That said, Ralston has forced his way to the Majors by putting up excellent numbers with Jacksonville. In 59 2/3 innings, he has a 1.66 ERA and a well-above-average 31.1% strikeout rate. His opponents’ .208 BABIP hints at good fortune, and his 12.0% walk rate could stand to come down. Nonetheless, the Marlins are content to add Ralston to their bullpen and see if the strikeout stuff holds at the big league level.
Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
