Max Meyer's Breakout Season Has Changed Everything for Marlins
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When the season first began, it was assumed that the Miami Marlins starting rotation would lean on the likes of Sandy Alcantara and Eury Pérez.
It would be those two who would lead the charge and enable the Marlins to compete in a crowded National League East. While there was a chance another pitcher could break out alongside those two, there was no doubt in anybody's mind that Alcantara and Pérez would be the anchors.
Four months later, that assumption couldn't be further from the truth. Sure, Alcantara and Pérez haven't been bad — both have ERAs hovering around 4.00 and have been more than competent throughout the Marlins' resurgence — but they haven't been the best.
That label belongs to Max Meyer, who just a couple of days ago was named to his first All-Star team — and deservedly so.
Through 18 starts, Meyer has a 2.53 ERA with 112 strikeouts and just 36 walks. He's been one of the best pitchers in baseball and is a major reason Miami is where it is in the standings right now. Without him, it's hard to imagine the Marlins being quite this relevant at this stage of the season.
From Top Prospect to Staff Ace – With Some Bumps in Between
Meyer's journey has been filled with all sorts of potholes. After being the third overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, Meyer soared to the majors in two seasons. But just six innings into his big league career, disaster struck. He tore his UCL and proceeded to miss the rest of 2022 and all of 2023. It was a massive bummer, to say the least.
He made his return to the mound in 2024, but it didn't look like the Marlins were fully confident in him. They demoted him to Triple-A after just three starts that season in what was a questionable move at the time that didn't appear to have anything to do with service time. Whatever the reason, Meyer returned to the Marlins in July. He finished 2024 with a 5.68 ERA over 11 starts.
The 2025 season was an improvement, yet Meyer was nowhere near the player he was touted to be coming out of the draft. Over 12 starts and just 64.2 innings, he posted a 4.73 ERA with 68 strikeouts and 20 walks. A season-ending hip injury midway through the season didn't help matters, either.
Baseball is a fickle thing, though. One season, a player can be injury-prone and at the end of his rope. The next, everything clicks. That's been the case for Meyer so far in 2026. He's been the best pitcher on the Marlins and one of the best in the sport through the first half of the campaign.
He's stayed healthy — which is always a "knock on wood" situation with Meyer — enabling him to give the Marlins inning after inning of quality pitching. Because while Alcantara and Pérez have stumbled, Meyer hasn't. He's picked up the baton and started running toward the finish line.
This is the type of story that sports give us. A player who appeared to be at the end of the line has overcome the odds and emerged reborn. While it's not certain Meyer can keep this up for the entirety of the season, his first half has been a marvel to witness.
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Seth Dowdle is a 2024 graduate of TCU, where he earned a degree in sports broadcasting with a minor in journalism. He currently hosts a TCU-focused show on the Bleav Network and has been active in sports media since 2019, beginning with high school sports coverage in the DFW area. Seth is also the owner and editor of SethStack, his personal hub for in-depth takes on everything from college football and MLB to hockey. His past experience includes working in the broadcast department for the Cleburne Railroaders and at 88.7 KTCU, TCU's radio station.