Max Meyer named fifth starter in Marlins 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.