The Athletics vs San Diego Padres Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 05/24/26

Michael King is not perfect, ranking 27th percentile in walk rate and 33rd percentile in barrel rate. Despite this, King is both a very effective starting option for San Diego and my preferred starter in today’s game against the Athletics. King has a 2.31 ERA through his first 58.1 innings of work for the Padres this season, and the right-hander earns a healthy rate of strikeouts and ground balls — which helps limit the bad innings. He is also in terrific form having tossed 7 scoreless frames against the Dodgers in his last start, while it helps to have a historically talented bullpen behind you whenever you exit the game.

I expect King to exit his start with a lead today, as his offense should be able to produce against Luis Medina. Medina struggled mightily in a starting role with the Athletics in 2023 and 2024. He has been more successful in a relief role this season, but I am still not a fan of his command nor his batted-ball profile. He shouldn’t go too long in this game as the opener, and we could see Jacob Lopez as the bulk reliever. Regardless of the Athletics pitching plan, San Diego holds the pitching edge in this matchup, and I side with them at current pricing. 

Padres vs Athletics prediction: San Diego Padres ML (-162) available at time of publishing. Playable to -170.

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