Max Meyer named fifth starter in Marlins rotation

[Kevin Barral]

On Saturday, the Marlins informed Fish On First's third-ranked prospect that he has made the Opening Day roster and will fill out the team's starting rotation.

JUPITER, FL—Just a day after Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker told the media that he was leaning a certain way towards who his fifth starter would be for the 2024 season, SportsGrid's Craig Mish broke the news that Max Meyer has made the Opening Day roster in that role. Schumaker informed Meyer of his decision on Saturday morning.

"He deserves it," said Schumaker. "Looking forward to seeing him back in loanDepot [park]."

Meyer, 25, was the third pick in the 2020 MLB Draft. The right-handed pitcher made his Major League debut two years later, but that would be short-lived. In his second start against the Pittsburgh Pirates, he suffered an elbow injury which led to Tommy John surgery.

After a minor setback, Meyer did not pitch in any organized games last season. When he returned to the mound this spring, he made three Grapefruit League appearances where he allowed one (unearned) run off of four hits and one walk, but struck out five. In his most recent start against the New York Mets, Meyer's fastball was sitting 93.9 mph and topped out at 96.1 mph.

The 25-year-old's arsenal revolves around his fastball, slider, changeup and sinker. Meyer mainly goes with a fastball/slider combo, as the slider is his best secondary pitch.

The third-ranked prospect on the preseason update of our FOF Top 30 list, Meyer never went through any struggles at the Minor League level. Due to COVID, he had to wait until 2021 to make his professional debut and the Marlins challenged him with a Double-A assignment, but that was his best season in the Marlins farm system. He threw 101 innings with Pensacola and posted a 2.41 ERA, 3.34 FIP, 10.07 K/9 and 3.56 BB/9. His ERA jumped up to 3.69 at the Triple-A level in 2022, but part of that was trying to pitch through another elbow injury in May of that season.

Why Meyer was chosen to be the Marlins' fifth starter?

"He was our best pitcher available to help us," said Schumaker. "Max was really good in spring training. He's coming off injury, so trying to monitor his innings and pitch counts. That's just the reality. He's part of the future of the Marlins."

The 26-man roster hasn't been fully announced, but we now have a pretty clear idea about what it will look like. Jesús Luzardo, A.J. Puk, Ryan Weathers, Trevor Rogers and Max Meyer are the five starters entering the season. Eury Pérez, Braxton Garrett and Edward Cabrera are going to begin on the injured list, but they continue to make progress.

Meyer's final preseason start will be on Wednesday at loanDepot park when the Marlins play an intrasquad game. He will then start against the Los Angeles Angels on April 1.

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[Stanley J Makowski]

A move that makes sense. Good!

Staff, why aren't we seeing games so often. Is the problem within our ownership? Almost no positive publicity all Winter and now this. It's starting to be obvious that Aarez will not be offered a long-term contract and probably ditto for Luzardo. Was Bendix hired to save money and build a nucleus, or just to save money? We can hope and expect the former, but an awful lot is starting to suggest the latter.

Another point of contention for me is the advertising. To interrupt the course of an inning with commercials while batters are actually at bat is my opinion of heresy, even if the appellation doesn't fit. How can children become interested in a baseball game while at least half of it has nothing to do with the game itself. Lastly, I have nothing against the multitudes of players from other countries, many who left abject poverty, but it does pose the appearance that baseball is no longer an American pastime. And now the possibility of two additional teams? In my youth I could recite who won the pennant every year from 1903 until expansion. Now some guy wins a batting title, or an MVP and I never heard him. And even at my age, I am still an avid fan. But the next commissioner will certainly have his work cut out for him in my opinion.

[Ely Sussman]

15 hours ago, Stanley J Makowski said:

A move that makes sense. Good!

Staff, why aren't we seeing games so often. Is the problem within our ownership? Almost no positive publicity all Winter and now this. It's starting to be obvious that Aarez will not be offered a long-term contract and probably ditto for Luzardo. Was Bendix hired to save money and build a nucleus, or just to save money? We can hope and expect the former, but an awful lot is starting to suggest the latter.

Another point of contention for me is the advertising. To interrupt the course of an inning with commercials while batters are actually at bat is my opinion of heresy, even if the appellation doesn't fit. How can children become interested in a baseball game while at least half of it has nothing to do with the game itself. Lastly, I have nothing against the multitudes of players from other countries, many who left abject poverty, but it does pose the appearance that baseball is no longer an American pastime. And now the possibility of two additional teams? In my youth I could recite who won the pennant every year from 1903 until expansion. Now some guy wins a batting title, or an MVP and I never heard him. And even at my age, I am still an avid fan. But the next commissioner will certainly have his work cut out for him in my opinion.

I'm perplexed by the total lack of contract extensions. Bendix saw for himself with the Rays how vital it is to extend club control over certain players during a particular window in anticipation of those players sustaining their success or continuing to improve. For him to not reach deals with anybody on this roster either speaks to budget restrictions or his lack of faith in them.

Between eliminating the Short-Season A level of the minors and cutting the draft from 40 rounds to 20, Major League Baseball has taken steps to discourage American player participation. Shortsighted decision-making.

[One Regend]

I have to say, the Marlins are really asking a lot out of a guy who was fresh off of Tommy John surgery, has limited experience at the Major League level, and needs time to ramp up his workload. I know there wasn't much of a choice they could've gone with given the injury epidemic they had, but still surprising to see they went with the option that provides the least likely odds of a productive outcome.