HOUSTON -- The Marlins placed All-Star right-hander Max Meyer on the 15-day injured list with a neck strain on Monday, retroactive to Sunday, and recalled righty Zach Brzykcy from Triple-A Jacksonville.
Meyer went to Los Angeles to see Dr. Robert Watkins IV about his neck.
Manager Clayton McCullough said prior to the Marlins’ 8-5 loss to the Astros on Monday night at Daikin Park that Meyer first felt the issue in his start on July 7 against the Mariners. The Marlins skipped his last scheduled start before the All-Star break on July 12, and he didn’t pitch in the All-Star game.
“He felt a little sensation in the neck area in that outing [versus Seattle],” McCullough said. “Went with the extra time, and he felt much better with that time down. He was able to get through his throwing and the bullpens, and we all felt -- he did, we did -- that he was in a good place to make that start after the break.
“Then, in the third inning of the game the other day in Milwaukee, he said he felt a similar sensation there, so we felt like it was worth going to get some further examination on that. He went out to L.A. to get that looked at, and as we get more information there, we will have a better idea on what the timeline might be.”
Meyer appeared off in Saturday's start against the Brewers in Milwaukee, allowing two runs in a season-low three innings while walking three. The 27-year-old Meyer has already surpassed his single-season career highs for innings and starts at the Major League level, and was taking the mound after a career-long 10 days between starts.
“I grinded through every single inning it felt like, put the 'pen in a tough spot, especially coming off a break like this,” Meyer said after Saturday's start. “Obviously, I wanted to go deeper. ‘Pen's got to pick up a lot of slack if I'm only going three innings and there's a one-run game. So, it was tough. Obviously, not my best one. Clean up the walks and then get back on it.”
McCullough said they had no timetable for Meyer as of Monday.
“Certainly a level of concern that he is going to go on the IL and have to be down for at least a couple of weeks, but I think right now, just more wanting to get a fuller picture of what’s going on and what is leading to this, potentially, so that we can get him back,” McCullough said. “Until we get further information of what that testing was and what a timetable looks like, we will remain optimistic that we can get Max back.”
This is the fifth straight season Meyer has missed time due to injury. Last season he went on the injured list with a left hip impingement in early June before having season-ending left hip labral repair surgery later that month.
Meyer sustained a right UCL tear during his second Major League start in 2022 and underwent Tommy John surgery, which made him miss all of 2023. He was sidelined with right shoulder bursitis in September 2024.
Until Saturday, Meyer had never gone longer than six days without taking the mound in a big league game. He had posted a 4.91 ERA in eight starts on six days of rest compared to 3.04 on the regular four days’ rest and 4.61 with five.
Without Meyer, the Marlins, who have dropped a season-high seven in a row, will depend upon Sandy Alcantara and Eury Pérez to stay in contention.
Meyer’s spot in the rotation won’t come up again until Friday and could be filled by Ryan Gusto, who has six starts this season and 23 in his career. Braxton Garrett is at Jacksonville, but he is 0-1 with a 14.54 ERA in two starts for Miami this season and is 16-20 with a 4.16 ERA in 65 career starts. Garrett last pitched for Jacksonville on Saturday, throwing a scoreless inning.
“I think we are going to see how these next three days go here,” McCullough said. “We had Brzykcy come up to give us another arm in the bullpen here. We will just reassess and decide what we think we want to do, what’s best when that spot comes up.”