ESPN: Former Tennessee Vols flamethrower, has made significant progress in the professional leagues.
It was only a matter of time for Ben Joyce, a former Tennessee Vols standout, to grow into a formidable bullpen presence given his arm talent. It appears that 2024 was that moment.
Joyce has had one of the greatest months of any reliever in baseball going into the All-Star break, and he showed it last night as the Los Angeles Angels defeated the Seattle Mariners 2-1 to maintain their lead in the standings. In a scoreless seventh inning, Joyce recorded three strikeouts.
In addition to his 103 mph fastball, Joyce has been using a sinker, or “splinker,” that plunges 97 mph away from hitters, and a dirty split-finger fastball variation. With a slower diving slider and one of the league’s fastest fastballs added, hitters will nearly exclusively depend on good fortune to run into one and score.
Early in June, Joyce made his major league comeback, going scoreless in his first game against Detroit. But in his next two appearances, June 8 and 11, losses to Houston and Arizona, he gave up five earned runs in all. Since then? Over 14.1 innings and 11 appearances, there were no earned runs allowed. He has a 2.76 ERA this season after striking out 16 and walking only 6 in 16.1 innings pitched.
Since the Angels are essentially out of the playoff picture, we’ll see what happens at the trade deadline, but Joyce has the kind of stuff that would make a team salivate. Additionally, it seems like he’s worked on control, which is what sets elite relievers apart. The former Vol’s options in the major leagues are endless if he can maintain the level of accuracy on his pitches that he has demonstrated over the past month.
