Marlins blow early lead again, set club record for season-opening losing streak

MIAMI, FL—For the first time since July 23, 2022, Fish on First number three prospect Max Meyer took the mound after undergoing Tommy John surgery. On a night where the Marlins needed length from their only right-handed starter in the rotation, Meyer delivered, as he went five innings, allowed two runs, two hits, one walk and struck out five. Meyer received a no-decision in Monday's contest, as the final score was 7-4, Angels. 

Meyer's first inning of work was brisk, as he struck out 2023 first-round pick Nolan Schanuel, but most notably, three time American League MVP Mike Trout as well. Both strikeouts came on the slider, which was his most used pitch of the night. He would go on to strikeout Anthony Rendon in the top of the third inning and then Brandon Drury in the fourth. All of his strikeouts came on the slider.

"Everything felt good," said Meyer following the game. "First time out there, I wasn't that nervous, I don't think. Was able to make some pitches and felt good throughout and obviously not the result we want, but something to build off."

Throughout the spring, Meyer's fastball velocity was averaging around 93.9-94.9 mph. On Monday, Meyer's fastball averaged 95.0 mph, topping out at 96.5 mph. He went with his slider/fastball combo along with a couple changeups. The fastball command was great for Meyer, throwing mainly strikes, but also working the corners with it. Opposing hitters swung at the fastball multiple times, but made contact each time, as Meyer didn't generate any whiffs. Unlike the fastball, the slider ended up being Meyer's bread and butter, which makes sense given his success with it at the minor league level. Angels hitters swung at his slider 11 times, generating four whiffs.

"It's always going to be one of my main pitches. A little bit later on, probably relied on [the slider] a little too much. Should've stuck to some heaters. Mel came out to me and said get back on that fastball, you're kind of peeling off so just stuff like that. I'll learn from every outing."

Where Meyer had trouble was with the changeup. He threw it just as much as his fastball, but not as effective, as he gave up a solo-homer to Mike Trout, leaving the pitch hanging for the 14-year veteran. Only twice did it fool the opposing side, as the Angels whiffed twice at it, But for the most part, it didn't make much of a positive impact as it didn't land in the zone as much as he would have liked. 

"I'm throwing a 3-2 changeup to Mike Trout, trying to get him out. I'm so happy that I even have the confidence in it. I would have never said that a couple years ago," said Meyer. "Obviously there's a place and time for it, but yeah, I feel great about it."

Thankfully for Meyer, the Marlins offense backed him early, scoring four runs. In the bottom of the first inning, Luis Arraez worked a five-pitch walk, Josh Bell got on base through a catcher's interference and Jake Burger knocked in his seventh RBI of the season, giving the Marlins an early 1-0 lead.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. would follow up Burger with an RBI single, driving in Josh Bell from second base. Although the call was questionable to send Bell home, it ended up working as he barely slid home safely to extend the lead to 2-0. Miami would go on to score two more runs thanks to a Nick Gordon two-run double. 

The longest home run of the 2024 MLB season was hit at loanDepot Park on Monday night as Mike Trout took reliever George Soriano 475 feet deep to left center field into the ballpark's concourse. This was the second home run of back-to-back homers that Soriano allowed, the first one being to former Florida Atlantic University product Nolan Schanuel.

After the Marlins scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning, the Angels went on to score six unanswered runs, which included two Mike Trout home runs, a Nolan Schanuel home run, two groundout RBIs and a Joe Adell RBI single to drive in Logan O'Hoppe to put the icing on the cake. With the loss, for the first time in franchise history, the Miami Marlins are 0-5. The last team reach this mark was the 2021 Oakland Athletics who went on to finish the season 86-76 (they missed the playoffs).

"We've had chances to add on and really blowing the game open," said Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker following the game. "They did a good job of getting the double play when they had to add to a couple times. We had guys on base, we had traffic all night. Just couldn't break through and add."

Miami will try to rebound on Tuesday as Jesús Luzardo will take the mound against Tyler Anderson at 6:40 p.m. The Angels are now 2-2 on the season and look to go over .500 and keep the Marlins winless.