MIAMI -- Marlins right-hander Max Meyer tossed a career-high seven innings in Saturday’s 4-0 victory over the Phillies at loanDepot park.
A self-deprecating Meyer implied it was about time after debuting nearly four years ago.
Meyer, who entered his start as the only member of the Marlins’ rotation to not complete six frames, allowed just one hit -- Garrett Stubbs’ one-out single in the third -- and no runs in an 83-pitch outing. He struck out seven and walked one while facing just one batter over the minimum.
Miami's relievers followed suit, retiring the last six batters in order to complete the one-hitter, the club's first since May 18, 2019, against the Mets.
“It's just getting the wins,” Meyer said. “Obviously, I want to go deep into games. Whenever [manager Clayton McCullough] tells me I'm done, I'm done. It's fun to go seven and help the team out, save the ‘pen a little bit in a four-game series. I felt good. But the only thing I care about is trying to keep the team in the game and get the win at the end of the day.”
Miami has been conservative with Meyer’s workload since injuries have disrupted his previous four seasons: Tommy John surgery (‘22), TJ recovery (‘23), right shoulder bursitis (‘24) and left hip labral repair surgery (‘25). As a result, Meyer’s single-season high for innings in a Major League season is just 64 2/3.
So in a likely career-defining campaign, Meyer aims to remain healthy over the course of the season and prove he can remain a starter in the big leagues. McCullough and the organization would love for Meyer to make 25-30 starts (his most is 12, which he did in 2025).
There’s no debate about Meyer having the stuff. He led Miami’s starters in strikeout rate (25%) and opponent batting average (.205) through the first six turns through the rotation.
“I think it shows how good Max is,” McCullough said. “Max is a different pitcher than he has been in the past. He's got more weapons now than he's had. They're better. They play off each other very well. Again, him having the ability to run his two-seam in on righties, to continue to open up the spin lane on the outer half, he can go down below vs. [lefties] with the breaking balls. His changeup is a pitch that he can use as well. Pairing a couple of fastballs together with two distinct breaking balls that are both very hard and abrupt [makes] Max good.”
The 27-year-old was efficient Saturday, tallying just two three-ball counts. His ability to mow down hitters made it an easy decision for McCullough to keep him out there in uncharted territory.
And though Meyer once again relied heavily on his slider and sweeper (totaling 51.8 percent), it was the entire arsenal that kept the Phillies off-balance. He recorded four strikeouts on the sweeper, one on the slider and two on the four-seamer. Meyer incorporated his changeup later in the start and got late swings because of the ride of his fastball.
The new-look Meyer didn’t go unnoticed by Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly, who was Meyer’s first big league skipper in 2022.
"You liked him,” Mattingly said. “He's competitive. A guy with good stuff and competitive is a pretty good combo, right? … You got a feeling he's going to be pretty good, and he's starting to add to his repertoire. He's added even more with a few more pitches. The changeup, he started throwing things like that, and then that's just grown. You can see the repertoire’s just grown."
Meyer received early run support in the third. After stranding the bases loaded in the second, the Marlins collected three consecutive one-out singles for the second straight inning and capitalized. Agustín Ramírez and Connor Norby drove in a run apiece with bases-loaded two-out walks.
Cleanup hitter Xavier Edwards added a solo shot in the fifth, pulling righty Andrew Painter’s center-cut 96.1 mph four-seamer over the right-field wall. Otto Lopez tacked on a run-scoring infield single in the sixth.
It was Edwards’ ability to snag Meyer’s offline throw on an inning-ending 1-4-3 double play in the third that the pitcher called a game-changer. Rather than extend the rally and up his pitch count, Meyer went back to the dugout and cruised.
“Max threw the hell out of the ball today, kept their hitters off-balance, was attacking in the zone,” Edwards said. “Just putting them away late in counts. Pitchers did a great job tonight.”