Marlins turn to Max Meyer in bid for series sweep of Rockies

Sunday's finale of the season-opening, three-game series between the host Miami Marlins and Colorado Rockies is set to feature an interesting pitching contrast.

Miami will bid for a series sweep when it hands the ball to right-hander Max Meyer, who broke into the majors with two appearances in 2022, missed all of 2023 due to elbow surgery and has yet to pitch 65 innings in a major-league season.

The third overall pick in the 2020 draft, Meyer has yet to look the part, sporting a 5.29 career ERA.

"We expect Max to pitch well," Miami manager Clayton McCullough of Meyer, 27. "We're excited about him."

Colorado will start left-hander Jose Quintana, who is a full decade older than Meyer.

While Meyer has spent his entire career with the Marlins organization, this is Quintana's eighth MLB franchise.

A native of Colombia, Quintana has pitched more than 130 innings in 11 big-league seasons. In 14 seasons and 2,101 1/3 innings, he has an ERA of 3.76. Meyer, by the way, has totaled 127 2/3 innings.

Meyer wasn't expected to be part of Miami's Opening Day rotation this year until Jan. 7, which is when the Marlins traded starter Edward Cabrera to the Cubs.

Quintana similarly was in limbo this season until signing a one-year, $6 million deal with the Rockies on Feb. 12. He is 3-2 with a 2.61 ERA in five career starts against the Marlins.

Meyer, meanwhile, is 0-2 with a 7.20 ERA against Colorado.

Supporting Quintana on Sunday will be what the Rockies are hoping is a much-improved bullpen. Last year, the Rockies allowed more home runs than any other bullpen in the majors. They walked too many batters and struck out too few, ranking bottom-five in both categories.

This year, the Rockies are hoping from improvement from relievers such as Victor Vodnik, Seth Halvorsen and Juan Mejia.

Vodnik, who had 10 saves and a 3.02 ERA last year, is a closer, using primarily a fastball and changeup.

Halvorsen, with a fastball that touches 100 mph, led Colorado with 11 saves ... but also had a 4.99 ERA.

Mejia, who has a fastball and a slider, posted a 3.96 ERA last year and then pitched for the star-laden Dominican Republic squad in this year's World Baseball Classic.

"That experience," Mejia said of the WBC, "will help me have a good year with the Rockies."

Colorado also has Jimmy Herget, who relies on command, a funky delivery that creates deception and controlled contact. He led Rockies relievers last year in ERA (2.48).

Miami, which signed Pete Fairbanks to a one-year, $13 million contract in December, also is bullish on its bullpen. He made his Marlins debut on Friday, earning a save.

The Marlins bullpen also got a boost from lefty reliever Andrew Nardi, 27. Nardi, Miami's 16th-round pick in 2019, had a breakthrough year in 2023 (8-1, 2.67 ERA, three saves).

Nardi then slumped in 2024 (3-2, 5.07 ERA, no saves) and missed all of last season due to a back injury.

On Friday, he finally got back on the mound, pitching two-thirds of a scoreless inning with two strikeouts.

"Andrew has been trending up this spring," McCullough said. "His velocity has been outstanding."

--Field Level Media