Max Meyer 'exceptional' again in Miami's spring loss

JUPITER, FL—Max Meyer made his third start of the Grapefruit League schedule on Saturday night at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, under the lights. After an uneven first inning, Meyer settled in and completed the next two frames very efficiently, without allowing a run. He was pulled after just 33 total pitches, but threw an additional eight in the bullpen following his outing.

"I thought he was exceptional," manager Clayton McCullough said. "A couple of hitters in, probably wasn't the start you hope for, but I think it was actually a good thing to see, especially the way he got right back on the attack."

Following the RBI double by Juan Soto, Meyer recorded an out on the next nine men who came to the plate. Soto singled again in the third, but was thrown out trying to stretch it to a double. 

“Fastball and sinker felt really good and I was able to put them in good locations up and get some swings-and-misses,” said Meyer following his outing. 

His fastball velocity remained encouraging, sitting at 96 mph and topping out at 97.1 mph. Meyer mixed both types of breaking balls effectively, throwing eight sliders and eight sweepers. When asked to differentiate between the two, he explained, “I’d say I probably went more sweeper-heavy tonight. The ones in the 85-87 mph range are the sweepers, and anything harder is the slider.”

Meyer credited the Marlins' new pitching staff for helping expand his pitch arsenal, noting, “The staff has done a great job relaying information that helps me understand when and where to throw each pitch. My arsenal is night and day compared to last year."

Additionally, the 25-year-old mentioned the benefit of having more off-speed offerings to have to throw against right-handed hitters, admitting to the media that he felt “forced” to use the changeup more than he would have preferred. He told Fish on the Farm’s Alex Carver that he would consider the changeup his fifth-best offering. 

Meyer’s outing began with a few over-thrown fastballs to leadoff man Luisangel Acuña, later resulting in the hard-hit RBI double from Soto. "First inning is always going to be about getting the juices out and then you settle in," Meyer said. 

"For me, the impressive part of the outing was how he got right back to work, minimized the damage and continued the next couple of innings and got outs quickly," added McCullough. 

Meyer's final line: 3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO. 

Meyer is currently projected to be the number five starter for the Marlins in 2025. 

Roster trimmed down to 48

Before Saturday night’s game, the Marlins made their second wave of roster cuts, highlighted by the Marlins’ seventh-ranked prospect, Deyvison De Los Santos . 

In addition to De Los Santos, Luarbert Arias, Adam Mazur (#11), and Max Acosta (#15) were optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville. Dax Fulton (#14) and Jared Serna (#10) were optioned to Double-A Pensacola and Matt Pushard, Christian Roa, Robby Snelling (#6), Dale Stanavich, Jacob Berry, Nathan Martorella and Andrew Pintar were reassigned to minor league camp. 

“These next two weeks, you’re going to see a lot of the position players get stretched out to that seven-inning mark, playing more back-to-back games to try and get their timing right and get ready for the season,” manager Clayton McCullough said on Saturday. 

Of note: 

• After only allowing one earned run in his first four innings pitched this spring, Janson Junk allowed four earned in his 2 ⅔ innings of work on Saturday. Postgame, McCullough mentioned the team plans to stretch him out as a starter. 
• Declan Cronin and George Soriano each threw a scoreless inning of relief.
• Graham Pauley continued his strong spring as he went 2-for-2 with an RBI double on Saturday. 
• Xzavion Curry will start for the Marlins Sunday afternoon in West Palm Beach against the Houston Astros.