Max Meyer got another turn in Miami’s rotation in 2026, and this time he has made it stick. The Marlins right-hander entered May 23 with a 2.85 ERA in 53.2 innings pitched, and he has looked like one of the better pitchers in the National League while holding down the number three spot for the second season in a row.
That is a sharp turn from where Meyer was a year ago. In 2025, injuries around him pushed him into the number three role, but his season split in two: through April he had a 3.18 ERA in 34 innings over six starts, with a 2.47 xFIP and a 12.4% K/9, then he stumbled to a 6.46 ERA in 30.2 innings over his next six starts before being shut down for the rest of the year with a torn left hip labrum. Many around the club believed that injury had been bothering him for some time and was behind the sudden drop.
The 2025 rotation was always going to be unstable. Sandy Alcantara was returning to the mound after missing the previous season because of elbow surgery. Eury Pérez was not available at the start of the year after Tommy John surgery. Edward Cabrera and Ryan Weathers opened the season on the injured list, and Cal Quantril was signed to take one of the available rotation spots. That left the Marlins leaning on Meyer, the former third overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, even though he had been viewed at times as a candidate for a high-leverage bullpen role.
What has changed in 2026 is not just the opportunity. Meyer answered it. He came through spring training with a 0.00 ERA in seven innings pitched over three outings and struck out 15 hitters per nine, then carried that form into the season. Entering his May 23 start, he was striking out 10.1 hitters per nine and holding opponents to a.202 batting average, which would be the best mark of his career.
For Miami, the result is simple enough. Meyer is no longer just a former top pick with flashes in a short career. He is the starter who kept the job, and the Marlins have reason to trust him in the middle of a rotation that has spent much of the last two seasons being rebuilt by injury. The test now is whether he can keep that level through the summer and turn a strong opening into something the club can actually count on.
