Breaking: Zach Joyce Details Decision to Rejoin Tennessee Baseball Program

For at least one more season, there will be a Joyce brother in the Tennessee baseball dugout.

Earlier this year, we reported the incredible, intertwining story of Ben and Zach Joyce — twin pitchers who signed together to play baseball at Tennessee, yet whose differences in Tommy John surgery marked a fork in each brother’s journey.

After rehabbing from his surgery, Ben made waves on the mound this season. He even became a household name, flaming pitches in speeds up to 105.5 miles per hour to become the fastest college baseball pitcher on record.

Zach, because of his Tommy John injury and the mental struggles he endured as a result, decided to step away from the game — until now.

Mentally refreshed with an arm that feels at its “best ever,” Zach Joyce has elected to rejoin the Tennessee baseball program.

Rumors began to circulate after Zach posted an Instagram video of himself throwing to UT catcher Charlie Taylor, then Zach confirmed the news with Volunteer Country on SI this week.

He immediately offers two years of eligibility for the Vols’ pitching staff.

Whether Ben Joyce returns for his redshirt senior season is not yet known.

For Zach, however, the presence of his twin brother is not vital for this season.

Instead, Zach is merely looking to wrap the final chapter of his own Tennessee baseball dream — one that has not yet been fulfilled.

‘Blamed it on Baseball’

Before looking forward, though, this story must first travel back in time — back to the beginning of Zach’s recovery from Tommy John surgery in late 2019 and early 2020.

Zach’s injury, as mentioned originally, did not occur after the twins had arrived at Tennessee — where they had committed in September of 2019.

Instead, it occurred when they were still at Walters State Community College — where Zach had cracked the lineup as a freshman middle reliever, complete with a 1.15 ERA and an appearance in the 2019 JUCO College World Series.

Because of the timing in each twin’s injury, Zach didn’t have anything close to the support staff that Ben did at Tennessee during his own Tommy John rehab.

“When the whole thing started, really after surgery, the recovery didn’t go at all how I wanted,” Zach said in an exclusive interview with Volunteer Country on SI. “It messed with my head a lot. I had some anxiety in the past, but it got pretty bad.

“So I kind of blamed it on baseball,” he reflected. “Which, it obviously wasn’t just because of that. It was something else entirely.”

Still, he didn’t know at the time that the root of his anxiety wasn’t wrapped in a sport.

What did he know? That the anxiety wouldn’t let up, even as he worked out in his first semester on Rocky Top.

With the stress consuming him, Zach met with Tennessee’s coaching staff to discuss the issue.

And ultimately, he decided that stepping away would be the best decision.

“It’s never that I didn’t want to play,” he clarified this week. “I wanted to play the whole time. But I was having really bad anxiety attacks almost every day.”

Finding a Road Back — Mentally and Physically

When Zach left the team, Tennessee coach Tony Vitello referred him to J.P. Arencibia — a former Vol whose dealings with anxiety have been previously documented by The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Arencibia, in turn, gave Zach some reading material: DARE: The New Way to End Anxiety and Stop Panic Attacks by Barry McDonagh.

Zach has since doubled down, consuming even more material to better understand and control his own mental health.

He has also continued working out and, as previously mentioned, began working on an internship with a defense contractor in Knoxville.

Still, as last year ended and this season drew nearer, Zach began to feel that something was missing.

Sure, working out on his own was cool. Going to games was fun. But he missed the camaraderie. He missed the environment. He missed the team.

“Even when I stepped away, I’d been there for six months,” he said. “I’d been there for a semester, gotten to know the guys really well. And I would still see them on campus, and they were all so supportive.”

And this season?

“I worked through the mental stuff and had been training hard,” Zach said. “And so before this season, all I could think about was, ‘Man, I wish I could be out there.’”

That fire burned more and more as the 2022 season wore on, even to the extent that Zach couldn’t watch games.

“At the end of the year, it was pretty hard to watch and not be down there,” he said. “Like, I could just feel it inside, how bad I wanted to be there playing again.”

So, in April of this year, Zach approached his parents: he wanted to give Tennessee baseball another shot. But how?

“Talking to him, I realized he thought it was too late,” said Ben and Zach’s mom, Joni. “I said, ‘Zach, I’m not professing to know everything. I think now it’s not too late, but if you wait longer, it will be.’”

So, off Zach went — not back to Tennessee just yet, but to D1 Knoxville, to reunite with owner and former workout partner Devin Driscoll.

They began a throwing program, then gradually built to a point where Zach felt confident about pitching again.

“Just the four of us knew, me, Zach, Ben, and AJ,” said Joni. “Every step, you could see his confidence building. Finally, it reached a point where he told a couple of other people.

“Every step of the way, you could see him getting happier. He started wanting to go to games with us and interacting with the team members.”

In a funny twist, one of those games happened to come during Tennessee’s series at Vanderbilt. And when Zach sat down in his seat in Nashville, he turned to find Arencibia sitting right next to him.

“It was crazy because I had just started throwing again,” Zach said. “It was a new thing, and I was wanting to come back but was a little nervous. So it was crazy that he was sitting next to me.”

The pair talked throughout that night, with Arencibia giving Zach more advice that only affirmed his decision to come back.

Soon enough, though, the Joyce family realized that it was beyond the point of telling friends and family members — Zach would have to approach the Tennessee team and coaching staff.

The Emotions — and Mechanics — in Returning

When Zach spread the news around the Vols’ locker room, the response was immediate.

“He didn’t know how they would take it, but they just embraced him,” Joni said. “They were so excited to have him back, and so it turned into a really positive experience for him.

“Now he’s just confident, and he’s really excited to give this another try. And I think he realizes how different the resources are with UT than what he had going before.”

“They were all just happier that I’d been feeling better mentally than even the baseball thing,” added Zach. “I got to go back and work out a couple days ago, and all the players were just so happy and supportive. That really helps more than anything was how supportive everyone there was about it.”

Any word from pitching coach Frank Anderson on how Zach looks on the mound?

“Honestly, (the staff) seemed really happy with it,” Zach said. “They kind of went through it with the coaching staff and watched the videos. He said he’s really happy with how my arm looks right now and that it looks really clean. Personally, it’s probably the best it’s ever felt.”

There is no word yet on how Zach could be used next season, as he is still trying to fit back into the Vols’ program.

There are, however, noticeable pitching differences that the Joyce parents can recall from when the twins were at Walters State.

“Ben is more of 3/4 slot, his body moving quick from beginning to end,” said the twins’ dad, A.J. “Both very fast whip in the arm, but Zach has more of an up-and-down classic delivery with a motion not as fast as Ben’s.”

A.J. mentioned that one of their Walters State friends dug even deeper, labeling Ben as the “power pitcher,” while Zach may hold more finesse.

Comparing Joyce to Joyce

For the Joyce twins, though, pitching mechanics are only the start of their differences — and those individual journeys remain important to each brother.

Not just because they went in different directions after signing with Tennessee, but because their lives are unfolding in separate directions now — Ben, of course, becoming a nationally-known, draft-worthy flamethrower, and Zach finding his way back to the sport both boys love.

“Our whole lives, we’ve been twins,” said Zach. “But we are different. It would have been awesome to play with him at Tennessee, but he’s obviously doing crazy things right now, too.”

“I think it might also be that they each got their own time at UT without people comparing them,” added Joni.

“It has been fantastic,” AJ said. “I think Zach’s story of Tommy John, it is so difficult. Having Ben and Zach go through it, I don’t really think I understood how difficult it was. Now, when we see other players have it, it just breaks our heart for the family.

For Zach to step away for a year was a very brave thing. For him to come back is also a very brave thing. I think everybody is rooting him on to come back and succeed, regardless of where it goes.”

Whether Zach’s return leads to another Joyce twin being taken in another MLB Draft remains to be seen.

For now, he is only looking forward to his first taste of life in a Tennessee uniform — and the thought of stepping onto the mound in front of the same screaming fans he cheered alongside last spring.

“Honestly, I think my parents will love it more than anyone,” Zach said of the anticipated moment. “My mom held a little rosary whenever Ben was pitching, and I know she’ll do that with me, too. I’m sure my mom will be crying. I’m just so excited to get back out there. I honestly can’t wait.

“Obviously, it was a dream of mine to play at Tennessee. And now it’s able to come true again.”

Photo credit: Walters State athletics