Marlins observations: Bendix on start to season, plus notables on Max Meyer, Arraez, more

As he walked in front of the team’s dugout at Busch Stadium on Friday, Miami Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix felt optimistic his team’s first win was about to come.

He had to wait a couple more days for that to become reality, when the Marlins beat the St. Louis Cardinals 10-3 on Sunday after starting the season with nine consecutive losses — the longest losing streak to start a season in franchise history.

But prior to finally getting that win, Bendix lamented that the team’s start to the season has been “very frustrating.”

“We all want to win,” Bendix said Friday. “There’s nobody that wants to win more than the players on this team, [manager] Skip [Schumaker] and the staff. They pour their heart and soul into every single game and not getting the results that we want over the first week can be demoralizing. It can be really, really painful. The most important thing for everybody is to feel that pain and use it, channel it into something positive so that we can be better tomorrow, better next week.”

Sunday provided a glimpse of what the Marlins can do at their full potential. They had 13 hits, including a pair of three-run homers in the first inning by Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Nick Gordon, quality pitching and error-free defense.

Prior to the win, though, Schumaker found himself lamenting what had been going wrong night after night and personally taking the blame for each loss. Bendix, for his part, took responsibility for the early struggles.

“He’s in the trenches with these guys every single day and like all of us lives or dies on the results, and so I think he takes it to heart when things aren’t going well,” Bendix said of Schumaker. “I appreciate his level of responsibility and care and thought that he puts into everything that he does. Ultimately, the roster and the team construction, that’s on me and the responsibility for putting the team together that’s going to compete in the short-term and in the long-term, that’s on me. I appreciate that Skip also feels that sense of ownership, and that’s why he’s such a good manager. It’s really on all of us to make sure that we get the best out of the players.”

So does Bendix believe he has put the Marlins in the best position to succeed?

“I think very similarly of our team as I did a week ago,” Bendix said. “Unfortunately, we’re now [1-9]. That is meaningful also, right? Both things can be true that things don’t look as good as they did before we played any games, but I also believe that this team is really good and we have the ability to right the ship.”

Relatedly, Bendix declined to comment postgame Sunday when asked about a USA Today report that the team agreed to void the club option in Schumaker’s contract for the 2025 season.

Max Meyer makes early impression

Think about this for a moment: Max Meyer originally wasn’t in line to be part of the Marlins rotation to start the season. After missing all of the 2023 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, the Marlins’ plan was to ease him back into action, having him start in the minor leagues before getting a call-up later on in the season.

And then a slew of injuries hit the team during spring training. Braxton Garrett, Edward Cabrera and Eury Perez were all going to miss at least the start of the season — and Perez ultimately needing Tommy John surgery.

Meyer all of a sudden found himself on the Opening Day roster.

And now, after two turns through the rotation, Meyer has been easily Miami’s most consistent starter in the early going of the season.

He has allowed just three runs through 11 innings, with two of those being solo home runs. He’s also the only pitcher on the staff to complete six innings in a start, doing so in Sunday’s win over St. Louis.

“He’s easy to root for,” Schumaker said. “He’s just different out there. He’s a special kid that has this ninth-inning mentality every pitch, and he has a bright future here.”

On Sunday, Meyer was perfect through the first 13 batters he faced before giving up a solo home run to Nolan Gorman — one that was nearly robbed by center fielder Chisholm. That was the lone blemish on his 83-pitch outing, one in which he induced 11 groundouts. Outside of a 26-pitch fifth inning, he needed no more than 16 pitches to complete each of his other five innings.

“Obviously, I want to go out there and pitch five, six, seven innings every time,” Meyer said, “and this is just kind of the base now I feel like for me and for all the starters to just go out there and start winning some ballgames.”

Luis Arraez heating up

After going 2 for 20 in the Marlins’ season-opening series against the Pittsburgh Pirates, second baseman Luis Arraez is hitting .391 (9 for 23) with one double, one triple and seven runs scored over the past six games entering Miami’s series opener against the New York Yankees.

He went 4 for 5 with three runs scored on Sunday in Miami’s win over St. Louis, and the Marlins scored in each of the four innings he reached base.

This and that

▪ Jake Burger’s 12 RBI entering Monday are tied for the second most in MLB, trailing only the 14 from Teoscar Hernandez. The dozen RBI are also tied for the seventh most by Marlins player through the first 10 games of a season.

▪ Of the Marlins’ 40 runs scored this season, 15 have come in the first inning.