Ben Joyce (shoulder) moves rehab to Triple-A

Joyce only threw eight pitches in the inning, all four-seamers, and allowed one hit. He sat 101.9 mph on his four-seamer and touched 103.2 mph. He got two whiffs on seven swings. We’ll need to see him mix in some other pitches, and the Angels likely will wait until after the trade deadline to call him up, but he could be the primary closer for them for the final month or so of the season.

Joyce had shoulder surgery last year and seemed on track to return to the Angels’ bullpen in May, but he suffered a setback in the middle of that month. He began throwing again at the end of June and has now begun his rehab assignment in earnest. We don’t know much about how he looked on Thursday, but he did hit 102.3 mph on the radar gun, which seems to suggest that his arm is feeling good. He will head out to an affiliate soon, and we can get more information on his rehab performances.

Joyce is working his way back from last year’s shoulder surgery and a setback that stalled his rehabilitation process in mid-May. The flame-throwing 25-year-old high-leverage reliever should be ready to return to Los Angeles’ bullpen at some point in the second half.

It’s an encouraging development as the flame-throwing right-hander inches his way back towards a return to the Angels’ bullpen. Joyce is going to ultimately need several appearances in a minor league rehab assignment once he’s ready for a game setting, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he could be ready to go before July is through.

It’s an encouraging development after Joyce was shut down from throwing earlier this month following a setback in his recovery from last year’s shoulder surgery. The flame-throwing 25-year-old high-leverage reliever should be ready to return to Los Angeles’ bullpen at some point in the second half of the season.

It doesn’t really change Joyce’s timeline, as Joyce has been on the injured list with his shoulder issue since the start of the season. The right-hander had an MRI return clean recently, and he’s been up to 102 mph with his fastball in rehab appearances. He should be an option for the Angels’ bullpen by the start of the summer.

Joyce has been struggling with his command during his minor league rehab assignment, and it sounds like some shoulder soreness may be the cause of it. He’ll slow down his rehab process but won’t completely stop throwing. As of now, the timeline for his return remains completely up in the air.

Joyce sat between 98 and 101 mph on his four-seam fastball in this one; however, he also threw just seven of his 15 pitches for strikes. He still has a few more rehab appearances to go before he joins the Angels’ bullpen, but it’s nice to see the velocity is already back to where we’d like it to be.

This was Joyce’s first outing since last year’s shoulder surgery. There is no Statcast data for that level, but the broadcast claimed he was sitting between 97-100 mph on his fastball and touched 101 in the outing, which makes us feel good about the health of his shoulder. He’ll likely need a couple of weeks of rehab appearances, but the Angels bullpen desperately needs him, so we might be nearing the amount of time to stash him.

Joyce is working his way back from last year’s shoulder surgery, and the Angels have been very deliberate with his rehab. Relievers don’t need as long to ramp up as starting pitchers do, but the team won’t rush the 25-year-old either. Expect him to begin slowly with a few appearances in the lower minors before building up to pitching on back-to-back days in Triple-A. That being said, it’s possible Joyce could be up with the Angels in 2-3 weeks, and with Jordan Romano no longer on the MLB roster and Kirby Yates struggling on his own rehab assignment, there is a chance for Joyce to emerge as a late-inning option for a team that desperately needs one.