Meyer sees brighter future: 'Going to be very dominant'

DENVER -- Marlins right-hander Max Meyer is used to thriving on the mound, from as long ago as Little League to as recently as five days ago.

But baseball, especially at the Major League level, is a tough game. It will humble you quickly. Meyer continues to learn lessons and experience growing pains like those found Wednesday night during the Marlins’ 8-2 loss to the Rockies at Coors Field.

“Taking stuff away from every outing,” Meyer said. “It's a really hard game. But once it all clicks, it starts getting really easy. But then it would get hard again. So you’ve just got to keep a positive mindset, keep attacking hitters and trusting my stuff.”

There was the good.

Meyer recorded 18 swings and misses, second-most for him this season. His ever-developing changeup notched more whiffs than his four-seamer (five vs. three) and no hits allowed among the five base knocks. Meyer’s six strikeouts were his most since Aug. 1, which was five starts ago.

There was the bad.

The 25-year-old Meyer walked a season-high four batters, two of which came around to score. The defense behind Meyer also didn’t do him any favors, committing four errors for the first time in a game since Sept. 2, 2021. Colorado capitalized on a pair of miscues, including a run-scoring pickoff attempt by Meyer, in the third.

“First four innings were really strong,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “Strike percentage up, a lot of strikes and strikeouts. But the walks and the defense are what hurt us tonight. Ultimately, that's the reason why we lost the game.

“Not just Max, but we just had too many walks in general, and most of them scored. Errors are going to happen. Unfortunately, we had four errors tonight, and [we] just couldn't catch up and get them back.”

Aaron Schunk lifted his first career homer to left field, turning on Meyer’s mislocated fastball well inside for a solo shot to put Miami behind, 3-2, in the fifth.

“I’ve always had a line-drive doubles swing,” Schunk said. “But when I get ’em, I get ’em.”

The Rockies opened the sixth with a single and a walk to chase Meyer at 96 pitches. Two inherited runners scored to skew his final line (five-plus innings, five runs, four earned runs).

Despite the final result, Meyer has pitched into the sixth two starts in a row. He induced seven groundouts compared to no flyouts, keeping the ball out of the air for the most part at a ballpark like Coors Field. That falls in line with what Meyer has been able to do in 2024. Entering Wednesday, he had a 49% ground-ball rate that ranked in the 82nd percentile. His best pitch, the slider, tallied 10 whiffs on Wednesday -- most since April 13.

“His slider, I thought, was a lot better, a lot more swing and miss on the slider,” Schumaker said. “The fastball command was better in the first four innings. But the fifth and sixth inning were a little bit different story, unfortunately, just behind some hitters. The walk to get him out of the game was kind of the last straw.

“But I think the leadoff walks in general are going to hurt. And then with nobody on base, even when the bases are cleared with no outs, and you walk a guy, they just hurt you in the end at this level. When he's in the strike zone, he's really good. And I think he understands that. He's still developing, as well, and he's going to be good. It's just today was tough behind him defensively.”

Ten starts back from Tommy John surgery, Meyer acknowledged being frustrated with his inconsistent performance. He is used to succeeding. A Top 100 prospect before recently graduating from prospect status, Meyer has a 5.44 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP.

“Hitters get paid, too, but I think I'm better than a lot of them,” Meyer said. “And I know once I get 100% confidence, everything's flowing well, I feel like I'm going to be very dominant.”