Max Meyer is back and on the mound for the Miami Marlins on Friday night, less than a day after the club reactivated him from the bereavement list. He is scheduled to start against Michael McGreevy as the St. Louis Cardinals open a three-game series at Busch Stadium on June 26.
That is the matchup that makes Marlins Vs Cardinals a draw tonight. Meyer enters with an 8-0 record, a 2.80 ERA and 102 strikeouts, while McGreevy is 3-6 with a 3.35 ERA and 53 strikeouts, giving the opener the clearest pitching contrast of the weekend.
The series matters because both clubs arrive with the same basic problem: they are still in the race, but not comfortably. The Miami Marlins have won five of their last seven games, the St. Louis Cardinals have lost five of their last seven, and both teams are seven games out in their respective divisions.
Meyer’s return also resolves one of the small mysteries around the opener. Since the start of June, he has posted a 2.31 ERA with 28 strikeouts and nine walks over four starts, which is enough to make him a reasonable choice to jump right back into a Friday assignment after the roster move.
But the rest of the weekend is not fully mapped out yet. Dustin May is listed to start Saturday for the Cardinals, and Andre Pallante is scheduled for Sunday, but the Miami Marlins have not announced who will take the ball in either game. That leaves the front end of the series defined and the back end waiting on one more update.
There is still no mystery about what Friday means for Meyer. The Marlins needed him available now, and they put him straight into the first game that counts most in the short term: the one they can win while the rest of the rotation picture remains unfinished.
