CHICAGO — Angels manager Phil Nevin said during Monday’s pregame media session that Ben Joyce had a “very good chance” to make his major league debut that night.
Whether Nevin can prepare the 22-year-old Flames for the situation he’s called upon, the club’s No. 9 prospect takes him on as a 10-year veteran.
Joyce, who was called up from Double-A Rocket City on Sunday, pitched into the seventh inning as the Angels clung to a one-run lead over the White Sox. He pitched a scoreless frame — striking out a pair of batters while throwing triple-digit fastball after triple-digit fastball — in a 6-4 rout of Price Field in Los Angeles.
“Ideally, yes, you want to have a soft landing,” Nevin said. But hey, that’s what we got tonight. [Joyce] He came in, and no minute seemed too big for him.
When Nevin called Joyce’s number in relief of starter Griffin Canning, the Angels led 4-3, with all four runs scored in the top of the first inning. That kind of moment would be easy to get the most out of any pitcher, let alone a rookie drafted in less than a year.
Earlier in the frame, catcher Matt Tice met Joyce on the mound as he reached the bullpen and was impressed with the right-hander’s behavior.
Joyce Tice said: “Excellent, calm and collected, he did the same in Sam Bachmann’s debut last week. “First big league outing. If you are a space player, you are hidden in nine people. When you’re a pitcher, all eyes are on you and you’ve got the ball.
“It felt great. I felt really comfortable — a lot more comfortable than I thought I would feel,” Joyce said. “I just went out and threw my stuff, and it worked. It was an amazing feeling.”
Joyce, At one point, it was clocked at 105.5 mph With the University of Tennessee, the shot went out. He threw 11 sinkers and one cutter to hit 10 of 12. His sinker topped 102.2 mph and averaged 101.3 mph.
Other than his 89.3 mph cutter, the slowest pitch he threw was 100.2 mph.
Joyce’s first pitch to Andrew Vaughn, who had hit a home run three innings earlier, was 102 mph for a strike. At 100.3 mph he painted another sinker on the outside corner.
Joyce’s third pitch was a cutter in the same position, which Vaughn lined out for a base hit.
Nevin joked: “He liked the first two pitches he threw. I wasn’t too happy with the cut where we went 0-2, but I think we fixed that.
Indeed. Next up was Gavin Sheets, and Joyce bowled four deliveries to record his first strike. They clocked 101.8, 100.7, 100.2 and 101.8 mph. Romy Gonzalez suffered a similar fate, facing and hitting 101.5, 101.6, 101.2 and 100.6.
“He’s very strong, and I think what’s even more impressive is how much extension he’s going to get,” Tice said of Joyce, who is listed at 6-foot-5, 225 pounds. “He’s a big guy. We’ll see him turn around. When he releases the ball, I feel like I can touch him there. It is very close, so you don’t see it for a long time and it is 103 [mph]He said.
Joyce took first at 102.2 mph on his last fastball — a sky-high single that flew harmlessly into left field.
I’m excited to go out anytime, and getting some late games against Rocket City proved to be helpful on Monday.
“That helped me calm my nerves out there and get close and get back to attacking the strike,” Joyce said.
Joyce and Chris Devenski pitched two scoreless innings, and Carlos Estevez backed up Canning’s quality start after allowing one run in the ninth. Canning struck out a season-high nine batters and allowed three runs on six hits, including a pair of solo home runs in six innings.
Joyce’s mother, father, brother, girlfriend and girlfriend’s family attended Monday’s game. After the game, the Angels honored him in the clubhouse and Joyce was awarded his line card — a memento he always dreamed of receiving.
A conversation with his mother on Monday morning served as an unbelievable reminder. A year ago to the day, Joyce pitched for Tennessee in the SEC Tournament championship game. The Volunteers won 8-5, despite Joyce’s two-run homer.
“Now I’m in the big leagues,” he said. “It’s definitely crazy to think about.”
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