Angels bring Ben Joyce back to the big leagues, looking for better control
Joyce, who has routinely hit 100 mph with his fastball, returned to the big leagues after striking out 21 and walking three in his last 11-1/3 innings at Double-A. He struggled with his control earlier this season in the minors and last year in the majors.
SEATTLE — The Angels are hoping that this version of Ben Joyce is better than the one they last saw in the big leagues.
The Angels recalled the hard-throwing right-hander on Sunday, putting him on the roster in place of demoted starter Reid Detmers.
Although manager Ron Washington said earlier in the week that the Angels still wanted to see Joyce throw more strikes at Double-A, the decision with Detmers opened up a spot for him.
“He’s a young kid with a strong arm that just didn’t know exactly, at that time, how to use it,” Washington said, referring to Joyce’s 2023 in the majors and 2024 in spring training. “An opportunity has opened up for him to come up and do something so he can stay in the big leagues. It’s going to be up to him.”
Joyce, 23, is best known for a fastball that hit 105 mph in college and has routinely cracked 100 mph in the majors. The rest of his game, however, needed some refinement.
Joyce had a 5.40 ERA in 12 big league games last season, with 10 walks in 10 innings. At Double-A this season, Joyce had a 4.26 ERA with 11 walks and 34 strikeouts in 19 innings.
More recently, though, Joyce had shown some signs of improvement. Joyce had a 1.59 ERA with 21 strikeouts and three walks in his last 11-1/3 innings.
“He was much better than he was last year when he came up here and better than he showed in spring training,” Washington said on Sunday.
Washington said Joyce can be used on back-to-back days or for two innings.
REPLACING DETMERS
A day after optioning Detmers, Washington said he doesn’t think the left-hander will be down for long.
“If he goes down there and works on the things he has to work on and gets it right, he’ll come back up here with a fresh start,” Washington said.
Detmers said his biggest problem was that he couldn’t throw his slider the way he wanted. He had an issue with his slider in 2022, and he corrected it quickly in the minors and returned to finish the season strong in the majors.
While they wait for Detmers, the Angels have some options for filling his rotation spot.
Because of off days on Thursday and next Monday, the Angels don’t need a fifth starter until June 15.
Right-hander Chase Silseth “is in the mix” to return to the rotation by then, Washington said. Silseth, who has been out because of elbow inflammation, threw three innings in an Arizona Complex League game on Friday. Washington said they’ll get him to four innings in his next outing “and then see where he is.” Washington said they’d consider Silseth if they felt he could throw 90 pitches in a big league game.
If the Angels want a starter sooner than that, they could bring up left-hander Kenny Rosenberg or right-hander Davis Daniel from Triple-A. They could also bring up right-hander Caden Dana, their top pitching prospect, from Double-A.
NOTES
First baseman Nolan Schanuel was out of the lineup for a third straight game because of a sore thumb. Washington said he didn’t even check on Schanuel before Sunday’s game because he wanted to give him an extra day off. “I do feel like he’ll play (on Monday),” Washington said. …
Utilityman Cole Tucker, who pitched an inning at the end of Saturday’s blowout, said he had not pitched since middle school. He smiled as he reflected on the 53.7 mph “eephus” that got a swinging strike from Mariners outfielder Dominic Canzone, who had been his roommate in the Arizona Diamondbacks farm system.
UP NEXT
Padres (RHP Matt Waldron, 3-5, 4.26) at Angels (LHP Tyler Anderson, 5-5, 2.47) at Angel Stadium, 6:38 p.m. PT Monday, Bally Sports West, 830 AM.