Max Meyer unleashes a potent pitch arsenal, including a devastating new sweeper, propelling him toward a breakout season with the Marlins.
MIAMI — Six years after being drafted by the Miami Marlins with the third overall pick, Max Meyer is shaping up to be an effective big-league starting pitcher.
The right-hander has a 3.96 ERA, 10.08 K/9, and 3.96 BB/9 through five starts this season, all of which are improvements over previous years.
"I've made some good starts every time, giving the team a chance to win," Meyer said during his postgame press conference on Monday. "I think it's just a couple of things every game that make me mad personally, but I can never be mad when I leave the game with the team in a good spot, so that always keeps me going in the next day."
Meyer pitched his deepest start of the season on Monday, going 5.1 innings with two earned runs and eight strikeouts for the Marlins (11-12) in their 5-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Marlins manager Clayton McCullough told reporters after the game that Meyer utilized "his whole mix" to set season highs in strikeouts.
"Certainly the slider goes into games, and even though the sweeper, the velocity at which he's able to throw those pitches kind of gets different movement on it," McCullough said. "I thought his changeup was really good, especially in the middle innings, to be able to go to that pitch as well, even right-on-right to give him a different look. He used his fastball well today."
Meyer said a wide mix of pitches is necessary to be an effective starting pitcher in the big leagues.
"You definitely need five pitches if you’re gonna be a starter, if you’re gonna go three times around the batting order," Meyer said.
Meyer has added that fifth pitch with the sweeper, a modern variant of the slider that is designed for maximum horizontal movement. Meyer’s best pitch was the slider before this season but its evolved form was very effective against the Cardinals, an emerging young team in the National League Central.
"One of my biggest pitches now," Meyer said, "grades out the best, I'm pretty sure."
The sweeper was used to get five of his eight strikeouts against the Cardinals. The other three were closed out by his slider and changeup.
"I'm glad I can locate it with two strikes and get strikes with it, go back door with it, throw it in 3-2 counts and 0-0 counts," Meyer said. "I'm just comfortable with the grip and the movement on it, and it's going to be a big pitch for me the whole season."
The next step for Meyer is to go deep into outings. Throughout his young career, the 27-year-old has yet to pitch seven innings in a single outing. Meyer said he’ll respect McCullough’s call whenever his night is done, but if it were up to him, he’d "go 150 pitches every game."
"The biggest thing for me is keeping the team in the fight the whole time I’m in there, and trying to get a win every time," Meyer said.
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