The San Diego Padres have scratched right-handed pitcher Michael King from his scheduled start on Sunday, one day before Major League Baseball's trade deadline.King has found himself in trade rumors as he has the potential to opt out of his contract at the end of the 2026 season. Now, he won't be pitching the day before the deadline.Instead, left-handed pitcher Kyle Hart will start in what will be another bullpen game for San Diego.LHP Kyle Hart will start today against the San Francisco Giants.RHP Michael King will start tomorrow in Arizona.— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 2, 2026King's next scheduled start has been moved to Monday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. First pitch for that game is hours after the 3 p.m. PT trade deadline.If King isn't traded, he'll be set up perfectly to pitch the series opener in what could be the Padres' most important series of the season against the team just ahead of them in the wild-card race.Why Would the Padres Trade Michael King?It seems counterintuitive for the Padres, a team struggling to find starting pitching, to trade King.However, with King's ability to enter free agency this offseason, the Padres could be more inclined to find controllable starting pitching at the deadline.The Padres could trade King to a contender for prospects, and then flip those prospects for a starting pitcher with multiple years of team control. It's also possible the Padres get a controllable starter for King, who has a 3.38 ERA and 109 strikeouts across 125.1 innings this season.Fernando Tatis Jr. Out of Padres Lineup on Sunday vs GiantsLuis Rengio, LFJake Cronenworth, 2BManny Machado, DHTy France, 1BJackson Merrill, CFLuis Campusano, CGavin Sheets, RFXander Bogaerts, SSSung-Mun Song, 3BFernando Tatis Jr. is out of the Padres lineup on Sunday, getting a day off before the crucial series against the Diamondbacks. Machado is getting a DH day.How to Watch Padres vs Giants on SundayFirst pitch for San Diego Padres vs. San Francisco Giants on Sunday, August 2 is 1:10 p.m. PT/4:10 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on Padres.TV and in the MLB app.The Padres announced that games will also be available via cable on the following channels:Cox (Channel 83)DirecTV (Channel 694-3)AT&T Uverse (Channel 781 or 1781)Spectrum (Channel 305 or 443)Games will be broadcast on the radio on 97.3 The Fan (in English) and XEMO 860 (in Spanish).Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X/Twitter for the latest news.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow