Ben Joyce, a former Tennessee Volunteers pitcher, has returned to the Los Angeles Angels after recovering from labrum surgery that sidelined him since May 2025.
A Velocity Comeback
In just five innings this season he has logged 19 of the club’s fastest throws, with 34 of his 71 pitches topping 100 miles per hour, including a 104.5‑mph fastball that sealed a 1‑0 victory over the Kansas City Royals on August 16, 2025.
That effort marks the fastest pitch by an MLB reliever since the start of the 2025 season, underscoring his elite velocity that once set a college record of 105.5 mph against Auburn in 2022.
Joyce’s path to the majors has been punctuated by setbacks: after a stress fracture in his elbow at Walters State Community College, he transferred to Tennessee, underwent Tommy John surgery in 2021, and later required shoulder surgery in 2025, missing portions of four MLB seasons.
Despite those injuries, he has posted a 2.83 earned run average and 50 strikeouts across 54 career innings, a testament to his resilience.
The Angels drafted him in the 89th round of the 2022 MLB Draft, and his twin brother Zach, also a Tennessee alum, was selected in the 14th round before retiring in January 2025.
Off the field, Emmett Siegel of Knox News has chronicled Joyce’s journey, highlighting how the pitcher’s high‑school growth from 5‑foot‑5 to 6‑foot‑5 at Farragut High School set the stage for his collegiate breakthrough.