Angels' Ben Joyce Dominates Prestigious MLB Leaderboard

J.P. Hoornstra | Sep 25, 2024

Jul 25, 2024; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels relief pitcher Ben Joyce (44) pitches during the seventh inning against the Oakland Athletics at Angel Stadium. / Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

In what could go down as the worst season in franchise history, finding positives could be a tall task for most Angels players.

Ben Joyce is a pleasant exception to the rule.

After being promoted to the majors from Double-A Rocket City in June, Joyce quickly established himself as one of the hardest-throwing relievers in baseball — and effective to boot. Before his season ended Sept. 10 because of inflammation in his right shoulder, Joyce went 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA in 31 appearances, limiting opponents to a .210 batting average across 34.2 innings.

Joyce threw the fastest pitch delivered by any pitcher this season, a 105.5 mph fastball to the Dodgers' Tommy Edman on Sept. 4.

Ben Joyce, 105.5 MPH Fastball. 😳⛽️ pic.twitter.com/WeMIJp1fX8

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 4, 2024

As a one-off highlight, it was impressive: Joyce quickly looked over his shoulder to see the velocity reading on the Angel Stadium video board, well aware he had just thrown one of the hardest pitches in the Statcast era. It was likely the fastest strikeout pitch ever thrown.

But Joyce's resume as a hard thrower extended well beyond the one pitch. Only 14 pitches were thrown 104.0 mph or harder this season, according to Statcast. Joyce threw 11 of them.

Lower the speed threshold even further, and Joyce continues to dominate the list. There were 111 pitches thrown 103.0 mph or faster. Joyce threw 66 of them, not a bad ratio considering he threw 247 fastballs for the Angels in all.

Codify attempted to visualize this list recently, and it clearly illustrates Joyce's dominance among baseball's hardest-throwing pitchers.

the 30 fastest mlb pitches thrown this year pic.twitter.com/a46AN9jUGO

— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) September 18, 2024

After the game against the Dodgers, Joyce said he thinks there's a little more in him that will unlock a couple more ticks on the radar gun.

“I would like to think so,” Joyce told reporters in Anaheim. “I guess we’ll find out.”

The Angels knew all of this was possible when they drafted Joyce in the third round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of the University of Tennessee. He'd touched 105.5 mph in college, putting his name on the draft map. In hindsight, it's a mild surprise he even fell to the Angels in the third round of the draft.

The only pitcher to throw harder than Joyce is Aroldis Chapman. He reached 105.8 mph in 2010 and 105.7 mph in 2016. Chapman has the second-hardest pitch thrown by anyone this year, touching 105.1 in a game for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Aug. 7.