Marlins fifth starter Max Meyer has been team's early-season ace

[Ely Sussman]

The last pitcher named to the Opening Day starting rotation, Meyer is Miami's top-performing starter so far.

Whenever a team records only three wins over a 15-game span, it's safe to assume the roster is rife with underachieving players. If not for Max Meyer, the Miami Marlins might be entering Sunday with even fewer than three wins. The former top draft pick has gotten off to a terrific start to the 2024 season to give fans something to feel encouraged about.

Spring training injuries cracked open the door for Meyer to make his return to the majors so soon. The Marlins optioned him to Triple-A Jacksonville on March 12. Later that week, however, it became clear that both Eury Pérez (elbow) and Edward Cabrera (shoulder) would not be ready to go for Opening Day. The initial rotation order was Jesús Luzardo, A.J. Puk, Ryan Weathers, Trevor Rogers and Max Meyer.

Through the first three full turns of the rotation, Meyer looks like he genuinely belongs. Most importantly, the 25-year-old right-hander is providing length, leading the club with 17 innings pitched (5.2 IP per start). He has allowed only 15 baserunners and four runs (team-best 2.12 ERA). The Marlins won his starts on April 7 and April 13, and he exited with a lead on April 1 as well before the bullpen blew it.

Meyer's stuff and pitch mix are similar to what he showed prior to his Tommy John surgery in 2022. Nearly half the time, he leans on his plus-plus slider. He averages 88.8 mph with it, making it the fastest breaking ball that any Marlins pitcher is using this season, per Baseball Savant. Particularly on Saturday against the Atlanta Braves, it was fascinating to watch how often he induced whiffs and manageable balls in play on sliders even when leaving them in the heart of the strike zone.

Meyer's changeup is still inconsistent, but there have been exciting flashes, For the most part, he's keeping it below the knees and out of harm's way. Left-handed batters are only 3-for-26 against Meyer with a .448 OPS so far.

Much of the skepticism about Meyer sticking as a major league starter long term stems from his relatively short stature (6'0"). To his credit, he has adjusted his delivery post-surgery to partially mitigate that handicap. After averaging only 6.0 feet of extension on his pitches in 2022 (ranking in MLB's 23rd percentile), he's up to 6.4 feet this season (38th percentile). Hitters don't have quite as much time to decipher what he's throwing.

Despite the hot start, Meyer still has plenty to prove. He is undoubtedly getting lucky on batted balls, yielding barrels in 9.2% of his plate appearances (doubled the MLB average), thus the massive gap between his 2.12 ERA and 3.96 xERA. He has recorded only one strikeout on fastballs (four-seamers and sinkers combined), making him predictable in two-strike counts.

That being said, Meyer clearly deserves to continue his rotation spot trial. Braxton Garrett and Edward Cabrera are both due back from the injured list shortly. The new-look rotation should be comprised of Luzardo, Garrett, Cabrera, Meyer and one of Puk/Weathers/Rogers.

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[Slacker Mills]

What have I missed on Sixto? Why hasn't he pitched in the last week?

[Leo Armbrister]

I hope the Marlins have a different plan for limiting Meyers innings than they had for Eura Perez. Sending him down set him back and he was not the same when he was recalled. 

[Ely Sussman]

1 hour ago, Leo Armbrister said:

I hope the Marlins have a different plan for limiting Meyers innings than they had for Eura Perez. Sending him down set him back and he was not the same when he was recalled. 

What made Eury's situation unique was how limited his previous workloads had been. At least with Meyer, he reached 111 innings back in 2021. He won't make a full 32 starts because that is still a huge leap, but he can get relatively close to that and not necessitate an awkward midseason break.

[Ely Sussman]

2 hours ago, Slacker Mills said:

What have I missed on Sixto? Why hasn't he pitched in the last week?

During this stretch of 26 games in 27 days, I'm sure he'll pitch more frequently than he has thus far.

[Seth Stohs]

I guess being their early-season ace wasn't enough to keep him from being optioned, eh?