PHOENIX – has thrown his final pitch of the 2026 season for the Marlins. 

The club announced prior to Monday’s series opener against the D-backs that the right-hander, currently on the injured list with a neck strain, has discontinued his throwing program and will undergo further evaluation.

“He tried to get back going there, and he just wasn’t able to get past the hump as he started throwing again,” manager Clayton McCullough said of Meyer. “Even if we have a miracle finish here and we’re able to play beyond the regular season, Max just wasn’t going to have the time necessary to build up and get back to pitching.”

Meyer last took the mound for Miami on July 18, a three-inning start against the Brewers. He previously dealt with a sensation in his neck during his outing on July 7, which led to his final start before the All-Star break – and the Midsummer Classic itself – being skipped.

After being on “no-throw status” in late July, Meyer received a cortisone shot in his rib area in mid-August to alleviate discomfort. The righty had recently played catch at loanDepot Park with hopes of making a late-season return, but the dwindling 2026 schedule worked against him.

By shutting Meyer down, it both allows the Marlins a look at other hurlers down the stretch – Tyler Phillips and Ryan Gusto among them – and ensures that Meyer, who has missed time in each of the past five seasons due to injury, is at full strength come Opening Day 2027, when the Marlins will again look to make noise in a perennially crowded National League playoff picture.

“We just decided it was in the best interest of him and us to just halt the attempt and get him in a place where he has a really solid offseason going into next year,” said McCullough.

Even with his season coming to a close after 20 starts, the 27-year-old Meyer turned in a successful first half that led to his first career All-Star selection, the first for a Miami starter since Sandy Alcantara in 2022. Through the first half, Meyer ranked tied for 10th among qualifying NL hurlers in fWAR (2.3) and held opposing batters to just a .206 average, largely on the back of his devastating sweeper/slider combo that ranks in the 98th percentile in the Majors in breaking ball run value (13).

The third overall pick in the 2020 Draft out of the University of Minnesota, Meyer was long one of the organization’s most highly regarded pitching prospects – he ranked No. 3 overall on the Marlins’ Top 30 Prospects list each season from 2021-24.

All told, Meyer threw 111 innings this season for the Marlins, far and away his most at the big league level and tied for his most in a single year across his time with Double-A Pensacola and Triple-A Jacksonville in 2021.