Ben Joyce (baseball)

Benjamin Alan Joyce (born September 17, 2000) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball at the University of Tennessee, where he gained acclaim for throwing the fastest pitch in college baseball history at 105.5 mph. Joyce was selected by the Angels in the third round of the 2022 MLB draft, and made his MLB debut in 2023.

Amateur career
Joyce grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee, and attended Farragut High School. He entered high school at 5ft 5in and weighed 100 lb and did not make the varsity baseball team until his junior year, by which time he had grown to 6ft 0in tall.

Joyce enrolled at Walters State Community College along with his twin brother Zach, and missed his freshman season due to a stress fracture in his elbow. By the end of the year, he had grown to 6ft 5in tall. As a sophomore, Joyce went 3–1 with a 4.79 ERA and 35 strikeouts in $20 2/3$ innings pitched. Joyce and his brother committed to transfer to Tennessee to continue their college careers. Joyce tore the ulnar collateral ligament during a fall practice and had Tommy John surgery, causing him to miss his first season at Tennessee. In his first healthy season at Tennessee as a redshirt junior, Joyce gained national attention for regularly throwing his fastball over 100 mph, throwing as hard as 104 mph. On May 1, 2022, he threw the fastest recorded pitch in the history of college baseball with a 105.5 mph fastball. Joyce finished the season with a 2.23 ERA and 53 strikeouts in $32 1/3$ innings pitched over 27 appearances.

Professional career
The Los Angeles Angels selected Joyce in the third round in the 2022 Major League Baseball draft. He signed with the Angels on July 22, 2022, and received a $1 million signing bonus. Joyce was assigned to the Double-A Rocket City Trash Pandas to start his professional career. In Joyce's first professional game, he gave up four hits and two earned runs with a strikeout in one inning of relief pitching. He finished his first professional season at 1–0 with a 2.08 ERA, 20 strikeouts, and a save in 13 appearances.

In 2023, the Angels invited Joyce to spring training as a non-roster invitee. In 14 appearances, he registered a 4.60 ERA with 24 strikeouts and four saves in $15 2/3$ innings pitched. On May 28, 2023, Joyce was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. He made his major league debut the following day against the Chicago White Sox, pitching a scoreless inning in relief with two strikeouts. After 5 appearances, he was placed on the injured list with ulnar neuritis on June 10. He was transferred to the 60–day injured list on July 27. Joyce was activated from the injured list on September 10. In 12 relief outings during his rookie campaign, he posted a 5.40 ERA with 10 strikeouts across 10 innings.

Joyce was optioned to Double–A Rocket City to begin the 2024 season.

Personal life
Joyce's twin brother, Zach, played with Ben at Tennessee and was also selected by the Angels, going in the 14th round of the 2023 MLB draft.