OC Register: Ben Joyce debuts with impressive inning in Angels victory over White Sox

[AngelsWin.com]

CHICAGO — The gift Angels fans have been waiting to open did not disappoint.

Right-hander Ben Joyce, who famously threw a 105 mph fastball in college last year, lit up the radar gun in a scoreless inning in his big league debut, helping the Angels to a 6-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Monday night.

The Angels, who snapped a three-game losing streak, also got six strong innings from Griffin Canning and homers from Brandon Drury and Matt Thaiss.

Joyce, however, was the featured attraction on this night.

The first pitcher from the 2022 draft to reach the majors, Joyce was promoted from Double-A on Sunday because the Angels put Matt Moore on the injured list.

The Angels likely hoped for a low-leverage spot to get him into a game for the first time, but circumstances led manager Phil Nevin to use Joyce to protect a 4-3 lead in the seventh inning.

Joyce gave up a single to the first hitter he faced, but then he recorded two strikeouts and a flyout.

Joyce threw 12 pitches, and all 11 of the fastballs were over 100 mph. The hit he gave up was on an 89.3 mph cutter. He topped out at 102.2 mph. White Sox hitters whiffed at three of their five swings against his fastball. Although Joyce had control issues at the University of Tennessee and in the Angels’ farm system, he threw 10 of his 12 pitches for strikes in his debut.

After Joyce was done, right-hander Chris Devenski worked a perfect eighth. Closer Carlos Estévez gave up a homer in the ninth, but still recording his 13th save in 13 tries. He’s the first Angels pitcher to start a season with 13 straight successful save opportunities since Troy Percival converted his first 16 in 2001.

That locked up the victory for Canning, who gave up three runs. Two of them came on solo homers from Andrew Vaughn in the fourth and Romy Gonzalez in the fifth.

Otherwise, Canning was sharp. He struck out nine — one shy of his career high — and he did not walk a batter. Overall, Canning threw 64 of his 87 pitches for strike, a career-best 73.5%.

In eight starts since coming back from a season and a half lost to a back injury, Canning has a 4.89 ERA, including a 2.95 mark in his last three games.

Canning had a four-run lead before he threw his first pitch, thanks to a Drury three-run homer and a Thaiss solo homer in the top of the first inning.

After that, the Angels’ bats went cold until the eighth inning, when they pushed across two insurance runs.

The first run was manufactured when Thaiss singled, stole second, took third on a grounder and scored on a sacrifice fly. Mickey Moniak then dropped a bloop double down the left field line and Mike Trout drove in the second run with a single that popped out of the glove of leaping shortstop Tim Anderson.

More to come on this story.

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[PattyD22]

Hey Ben, you throw absolute gas.

Just throw strikes buddy and we will grow to love you.

Promise

[ten ocho recon scout]

One of the few things I got tonight was his inning. Walk me through it, recent draft guy, right? One of the guys we drafted that people here liked?

I know nothing about him, but he was throwing gas for sure. Was impressive.

[T.G.]

10 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

 

I know nothing about him

He's better than Matt Joyce 

[Angelsjunky]

I just saw highlights on MLB.com. The guy has crazy movement on his fastball. If he can keep it in the zone, he's going to be an elite reliever. 

[warped]

102 mother Fucker!

[arch stanton]

I screamed at the tv when he gave up the hit on the cutter. “Who the hell called that? Throw the fastball til somebody hits it “

[Duren, Duren]

Impressive start. Looks poised, but a very small sample size. 

One of the things you always hear is that major league hitters eventually get their timing against the fastest pitches. So control, location, movement and a secondary pitch are needed to keep the hitter honest. 

And staying healthy is also a long term factor. He can't force things and overthrow. He has an interesting delivery that seems to take some stress off his arm, and also makes it harder for a hitter to track the pitch. 

Exciting debut, with lots of promise. But a learning curve still lies ahead. 

 

[BTH]

@Jeff Fletcher

Is Joyce’s fastball a 4-seam or 2-seam fastball?

Savant initially classified it as a sinker, but changed it to a four-seam. It rises like a four-seamer but gets run like a two-seamer.

Wondering what Joyce says.

[BTH]

12 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

One of the few things I got tonight was his inning. Walk me through it, recent draft guy, right? One of the guys we drafted that people here liked?

I know nothing about him, but he was throwing gas for sure. Was impressive.

Big name out of 2022 draft, since he hit 105 mph in college.

Got some innings in AA since he was drafted last year/this year.

He’s been working on his command and slider + cutter development.

[Inside Pitch]

12 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

One of the few things I got tonight was his inning. Walk me through it, recent draft guy, right? One of the guys we drafted that people here liked?

I know nothing about him, but he was throwing gas for sure. Was impressive.

Was clocked as high as 105 in college -- came back from TJ throwing pure heat.  His secondary stuff was meh, and his showing yesterday makes a case for baseball to use the same ball in the minors as they do in MLB because he's never shown as much in any of his minor league appearances as he did yesterday.  He's always shown velocity, but there was a lot more movement than usual yesterday.

[Inside Pitch]

12 hours ago, Angelsjunky said:

I just saw highlights on MLB.com. The guy has crazy movement on his fastball. If he can keep it in the zone, he's going to be an elite reliever. 

My biggest takeaway from yesterday was that they seriously need to use the same ball.  He's never shown movement like that in the minors -- it's been ropes. 

[Vlad27Trout27]

his fastball was filthy! that movement and he was hitting the corners. If he can maintain that velo and control he's going to dominate!

[AngelsFaninGA]

Does he have a second pitch? Any chance we can convert him to a starter like Strider?

[ten ocho recon scout]

1 hour ago, Inside Pitch said:

Was clocked as high as 105 in college -- came back from TJ throwing pure heat.  His secondary stuff was meh, and his showing yesterday makes a case for baseball to use the same ball in the minors as they do in MLB because he's never shown as much in any of his minor league appearances as he did yesterday.  He's always shown velocity, but there was a lot more movement than usual yesterday.

So I just briefly glanced at the tv at the gym, just trying to see who was pitching. Saw the name and wondered for a second who it was.

 

Obviously the throws hard. Looked smooth doing it, too.

But that last part you mentioned... wasn't sure if it was just me, but yeah... that thing definitely looked like it was moving.

That was fun to watch.

[Duren, Duren]

One shot showed his grip. It was a two seamer. The graphics after most of his pitches showed 'sinker' but they seemed to rise more than sink. If I remember correctly most of the pitches were high heat. I guess the ball movement confused the tracking device. Or his delivery creates a sort of optical illusion.

Regardless, he has a killer weapon that could make him a critical part of the bullpen. Not sure about starting though. You never know about the TJ factor over time. Starters also need stamina and a variety of pitches. This season should be about short term situational usage. Maybe high leverage if he's doing well. And if Estevez slumps or needs rest he could be put in to close out a game later in the season. 

[Dtwncbad]

From what I understand, the pitch that has the movement is not his fastball.  That’s his cutter and he was throwing it 102.

[Angel Oracle]

2 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

Was clocked as high as 105 in college -- came back from TJ throwing pure heat.  His secondary stuff was meh, and his showing yesterday makes a case for baseball to use the same ball in the minors as they do in MLB because he's never shown as much in any of his minor league appearances as he did yesterday.  He's always shown velocity, but there was a lot more movement than usual yesterday.

ManLessFred needs to take the Southern League ball and retire it, and then stick it where the sun don’t shine!

[Jeff Fletcher]

7 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

From what I understand, the pitch that has the movement is not his fastball.  That’s his cutter and he was throwing it 102.

No. A cutter goes to the glove side. 
 

Based on the arm-side movement I would say those were two seamers but I will ask about it. 

[Dtwncbad]

2 minutes ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

No. A cutter goes to the glove side. 
 

Based on the arm-side movement I would say those were two seamers but I will ask about it. 

I deliberately wrote “from what I understand” because I have read that it was his cutter being thrown at 102 and that he only threw 2 “regular” fastballs.

But yes let us know.  . .

[Second Base]

5 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

My biggest takeaway from yesterday was that they seriously need to use the same ball.  He's never shown movement like that in the minors -- it's been ropes. 

Ditto. I watched him yesterday and it reminded me of a young Garrett Richards + 5 mph. 

[Jeff Fletcher]

3 hours ago, Dtwncbad said:

I deliberately wrote “from what I understand” because I have read that it was his cutter being thrown at 102 and that he only threw 2 “regular” fastballs.

But yes let us know.  . .

It's a 4-seamer. The other pitch he threw (that he allowed the hit on) was a cutter.

[BTH]

8 minutes ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

It's a 4-seamer.

Thanks for finding out.

It gets an unusual amount of horizontal movement for a 4-seamer.

[Dtwncbad]

37 minutes ago, Jeff Fletcher said:

It's a 4-seamer. The other pitch he threw (that he allowed the hit on) was a cutter.

Thanks

[Inside Pitch]

2 hours ago, Second Base said:

Ditto. I watched him yesterday and it reminded me of a young Garrett Richards + 5 mph. 

It was night and day.   Absolutely crazy amount of movement compared to his time in AA.