Max Meyer

Meyer will miss the entire 2023 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in August of 2022. Fortunately for him, he got to the majors and onto the 40-man roster before suffering the injury, but he only pitched six innings in the big leagues. Meyer leaned heavily on his plus-plus 89-mph slider and also threw his mid-90s four-seamer 40 percent of the time. His above-average changeup rounds out a full starter's pitch mix. The six-foot righty has generally thrown enough strikes to comfortably project as a starter, but he has not yet proved he can handle a starter's workload. Meyer threw 111 innings in 2021 and was limited to 67 innings in 2022 due to the injury. He will be 20 months removed from the procedure when spring training 2024 rolls around, and it's possible Meyer comes back as good or better than ever, although roughly 20% of pitchers fail to return to pre-TJS heights.

Meyer was excellent in his pro debut, logging a 2.27 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 130:42 K:BB in 111 innings, with 20 starts coming at Double-A and two starts at Triple-A. His groundball rate was around 50% and his strikeout rate improved as the season went on -- he struck out 72 batters in 51 innings over his final 10 starts. His low-to-mid-90s fastball and diving slider remain plus pitches, but he didn't take any steps forward with his third-pitch changeup, which is mildly disappointing. His command/control remain solid, but not much better than when he was drafted third overall in 2020. It's kind of a conundrum with Meyer, because he performed very well statistically while getting thrown in the deep end for his pro debut, but the scouting reports are slightly less glowing than they were a year ago. If he can put in some work this offseason and in spring training to make minor improvements across the board, Meyer could take a step forward as a potential No. 2 starter, but as things stand, he's got the command and wipeout slider to perform as a mid-rotation arm in a year or two.

Meyer's 70-grade slider was the best pitch in last year's draft, and his upper-90s fastball (which touches 100) might have been the second best pitch in the class, which led to Miami selecting him third overall. His slider gets up into the low-90s and has devastating late movement out of the zone. His third-pitch changeup is improving and will inevitably play up due to how exceptional his top two pitches are. The University of Minnesota product worked as the closer as a freshman and transitioned to the rotation in 2019, so he does not have the mileage on his arm of a typical premium college pitcher. A good athlete with a low-effort delivery, Meyer had a 6.6 percent walk rate over the last two seasons, so he has a lot of starter traits. His 6-foot, 185-pound frame is a slight knock, but the main question is whether he can hold up under a starter's workload. He faired well at the alternate training site.