Meyer’s Breaking Ball Revolution Fuels Perfect Start
The Miami Marlins have found something special in Max Meyer. The right-hander improved to 8-0 after Saturday’s 6-3 win over San Francisco, becoming just the second pitcher in franchise history to start a season with eight straight victories.
What makes this run even more impressive? Meyer completely reinvented himself while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
The former No. 3 overall pick spent most of 2022 and all of ’23 on the sidelines after elbow surgery. Hip injuries complicated his return over the past two seasons. But that time away wasn’t wasted.
Meyer ditched his fastball-heavy approach for something entirely different.
Where he once relied on a mid-90s four-seamer and slider, the 27-year-old now lives in the breaking ball zone. His sweeper has become his primary weapon, and the results speak for themselves.
Saturday’s performance against the Giants showed exactly why this approach works. Meyer struck out seven in five innings, including his 100th career strikeout – a 91-mph slider that got Eric Haase swinging at the bottom of the zone.
The mechanical changes tell the story.
In 2025, Meyer worked with squared shoulders, 6-foot-3 extension, and a 37-degree arm angle. This season, he’s shifted to a more offset delivery with 6-0 extension and a steeper 42-degree angle.
Getting on top of his pitches more has generated extra spin. That’s created his new winning formula – a 5.2 percent increase in breaking ball usage that’s transformed his effectiveness.
Meyer now throws breaking balls 54.5 percent of the time. Among pitchers with the biggest increases in breaking ball usage this season, he ranks fourth behind John King (+25.4%), Cade Gibson (+18.5%), and Tyler Zuber (+9.4%).
The Marlins’ organizational philosophy supports this approach perfectly. With pitch calls coming from the bench, Miami’s staff entered the weekend throwing 39.1 percent breaking balls – the second-highest rate in MLB history.
Only the 2020 Minnesota Twins threw more breaking balls at 41.1 percent. The Cardinals and Braves both hit 39.1 and 39.0 percent respectively in 2025.
That’s elite company for a franchise that’s found it’s winning formula through spin rate and deception.
Meyer’s perfect start puts him in rare Marlins territory. Livan Hernandez started 9-0 in the franchise’s 1997 World Series season – the only other Marlins pitcher to begin a year with eight consecutive wins.
The health concerns that derailed Meyer’s early career seem like a distant memory now. His reinvention during those difficult months has created something the Marlins haven’t seen in nearly three decades.
Whether Meyer can match Hernandez’s nine-game start remains to be seen. But his breaking ball revolution has already proven that sometimes the best discoveries happen when you’re forced to find a new way forward.
