Marlins GM breaks silence on sudden demotion of young star amid 3-14 start

It’s been an abysmal start to the season for the Miami Marlins after quickly falling to a 3-14 record. Injuries aren’t helping one bit and now it appears the front office is trying to shake things up. General manager, Peter Bendix decided to shockingly demote starting pitcher, Max Meyer, despite Meyer being a young reliable star on the roster.

From the sounds of it, it wasn’t an easy decision for the Marlins. Despite star pitchers Eury Perez and Sandy Alcantara going down to season-ending injuries, Peter Bendix believes the team has a plethora of talent in the rotation, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

“The Marlins believe they are dealing with a surplus of healthy starting pitchers — yes, even without Sandy Alcantara and Eury Pérez, both of whom are out for the season while recovering from Tommy John surgery.”

When asked about why they sent Max Meyer down to the minors, Marlins general manager Peter Bendix claims it was a tough decision. But due to having multiple young stars making their way in the MLB, Miami felt it was necessary to demote Meyer for now.

Something has to give. We spent a full three different meetings of an hour each talking this through, kind of talking ourselves in circles because we didn’t have an obvious, ‘Oh yes, just do this,’ type of solution that we all felt great about.”

Meyer missed all of the 2023 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. So, between the injury and being a young pitcher, Max Meyer was never going to play the full season. But it’s definitely odd to see him demoted now considering his pitching has helped the club earn two of its three wins this season.

We should expect Meyer to be promoted again at some point this season. But it’ll depend on how the starting rotation produces on the mound. For now, Edward Cabrera, Jesus Luzardo, Trevor Rogers, AJ Puk, and Ryan Weathers will round out the rotation. Max Meyer and Braxton Garrett will be on standby.

Overall, it sounds like the Marlins are going to be ultra patient with Max Meyer’s development. Although the club finally made a playoff appearance last season, Miami is in no rush to move their young stars into the majors.

Can the Marlins bounce back this season?