The Los Angeles Angels made a series of roster moves on Sunday, which most notably saw them select the contract of prospect Ben Joyce.
In addition, Matt Moore was placed on the 15-day injured list with a right oblique strain, retroactive to May 25, and Austin Warren was transferred to the 60-day injured list.
Joyce joins the Angels just less than one year after he was selected in the third round, No. 89 overall, of the 2022 MLB Draft. The right-hander impressed in Spring Training, and now he gets the chance to make his MLB debut, which Joyce is extremely excited about, he said via J.P. Hoornstra of the O.C. Register:
“It means everything,” Joyce said. “It’s what I’ve been working for since I was 3 years old, playing baseball, trying to dream of making it to the big leagues. Then finally hearing that call. It means everything. It’s all the hard work you put in paying off.”
Joyce possesses an 80-grade fastball on the 20-80 scouting scale, which touches the triple-digits consistently. He also reached 105.5 mph with his heater while playing college ball for the University of Tennessee.
Joyce has struggled with his command at the Minor League level, as do many young pitchers, but he has improved that recently:
“His last three outings have been really good, efficient innings,” Angels manager Phil Nevin said of Joyce. “He’s commanding where we wanted him to be. There were some things we felt he needed to work on.”
Joyce has only thrown 28.2 professional innings, posting a 3.45 ERA, but he has struck out an impressive 44 hitters, while also walking 17. Despite his limited Minor League experience, Joyce has also thrown 32.1 innings playing NCAA ball, where he posted a 2.23 ERA with 53 strikeouts.
This year, Joyce owned a 4.60 ERA in 15.2 innings four Double-A Rocket City before being recalled. He was striking out 13.79 batters per nine innings, but also walking 7.47 per nine.
Angels want to build bullpen with pitchers they develop
The addition of Joyce gives the Angels another homegrown arm in their bullpen, joining Sam Bachman and Chase Silseth.
Angels general manager Perry Minasian has placed an emphasis on building the bullpen from within the organization, but acknowledged that isn’t always so easy. In addition, the Angels also signed multiple free agent relievers this past offseason.
So far, the results have been mostly positive as the relief group has performed well.
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