Ben Joyce

This comes less than two days after Joyce told reporters that he wasn’t dealing with any physical issues after experiencing a decline in velocity during Tuesday’s outing against the Rays. Sigh. No word on the extent of the injury or how long Joyce may be shelved for. Michael Darrell-Hicks was recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake to take his place in the Halos’ bullpen.

Joyce experienced diminished velocity across the board during Tuesday’s relief appearance against the Rays where he was lit up for three runs on four hits, including a solo homer to Junior Caminero, in his lone inning of work. We’re inclined to take the hard-throwing 24-year-old at his word that he’s not dealing with any sort of injury, but fantasy managers should keep a close eye on his velocity during his next couple appearances.

Joyce was placed on the 15-day IL with inflammation in his shoulder, and it seems likely that the 23-year-old will miss the rest of the season even if he’s eligible to return September 22 for the final week. The Angels are still awaiting MRI results on Joyce, but no matter the result it’s hard to see another competitive pitch from the flame-thrower in 2024.

With less than 20 games left in the season, there’s a distinct possibility that Joyce could be out for the remainder of the year. The hard-throwing right-hander didn’t exactly run with the closer job after the Angels cleared out the back end of their bullpen at the trade deadline. He picked up four saves. Joyce had a 2.08 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 34 2/3 innings.