Flamethrower Joyce thinks he can top jaw-dropping 105.5 mph moment

Ben Joyce was feeling extra amped up.

It was a tie game in the ninth inning on Sept. 3 against the rival Dodgers and Tommy Edman at the plate with two outs and an 0-2 count after getting ahead with a pair of sliders. Joyce reared back and fired a fastball that Edman swung right through to end the inning. After the strikeout, Joyce immediately turned back to look at the scoreboard; he knew it was a perfectly executed fastball, but he wanted to see the velocity.

Once it read 105.5 mph, Joyce could only grin as he walked back to the dugout. It was the fastest pitch ever thrown on a strikeout since pitch tracking began in 2008 and the third hardest ever thrown, behind only two fastballs from Aroldis Chapman (105.8 mph in 2010 and 105.7 mph in ’16). It helped put the rookie on the map as the game’s premier flamethrower, and it’s a night he won’t forget.

“It was against the Dodgers in Anaheim, which is a big game for a lot of people, so I had even more adrenaline and focus and it’s something I love seeking out,” Joyce said. “It was just a fully convicted fastball and I just really let it go and trusted it. And obviously being 105.5 is a pretty crazy feeling.”

But for Joyce, the 24-year-old thinks it’s just the beginning and he can throw even harder, as wild as that sounds. He also reached 105.5 mph during his junior year at the University of Tennessee in 2022, and he believes there’s more in the tank.

“I definitely do, because I push myself physically every day to get the most out of it,” Joyce said. “If I didn’t try, I think it would be doing myself and other people a disservice.”

His catcher Logan O’Hoppe doesn’t doubt it and credited Joyce for all the hard work that he puts in that allows him to reach such incredible velocity with his fastball.

“Knowing Joycey,” O’Hoppe said. “I don’t think he’s going to stop until he hits 150 mph.”

Joyce’s rise to becoming baseball’s hardest thrower was an unlikely one, however, as he was scrawny teenager at Knoxville’s Farragut High School. Joyce and his twin brother, Zach, were only 5-foot-4 and 120 pounds when they first tried out for the team, their high school coach Matt Buckner told MLB.com when Joyce was drafted.

“They were so tiny,” Buckner said. “And to be honest, they weren’t very good.”

But Joyce stood out because of his work ethic, and he experienced a growth spurt going into his senior year. He touched 90 mph as a senior but developed issues with his growth plates that caused colleges to shy away. Ben and Zach ended up enrolling at nearby Walters State Community College, but Ben missed his freshman year due to injury. He focused on getting stronger and grew another two inches to get to his current height of 6-foot-5. He returned to the mound as a sophomore and hit 100 mph for the first time.

“I kind of grew into my body,” Joyce said. “And that’s when I saw the big jump.”

It led to him and his brother attending the University of Tennessee, but Ben underwent Tommy John surgery that caused him to miss the 2021 season before returning for his lone year with the Volunteers in ’22.

He flashed eye-popping velocity that year. However, concerns about his durability caused him to slide to the third round of the Draft before the Angels took him with the No. 89 overall selection. Even general manager Perry Minasian admits there was some risk taking him there, as Joyce never had pitched on consecutive days and wasn’t the closer for the Vols.

“Obviously, drafting him, command was an issue,” Minasian said. “But I think our development has done outstanding job with him. Now, there's no inning where he comes in to pitch where the other team's like, ‘Oh, we're happy to come up and swing.’”

Despite his otherworldly velocity, Joyce had plenty to prove once he made it to pro ball, enduring several ups and downs while in the Minors. He had trouble with his command at Double-A Rocket City in '23, walking 14 in 17 2/3 innings, and struggled in his first taste of the Majors, posting a 5.40 ERA with nine walks in 10 innings.

He came into ’24 competing for a job in the bullpen, and the Angels tried out several creative ways to get him ready for the rigors of pitching in the backend of a bullpen. They created a “chaos” drill with Joyce having to focus and pitch while they blasted loud noises and had fans yell from beyond the fences. But he still didn’t crack the Opening Day roster, and when he did come back up the Majors in June, he allowed five runs in two innings over his first three appearances.

Then, something pivotal happened in his development, as veteran reliever Hunter Strickland taught him a new grip for a “splinker" -- or two-seamer -- that completely changed Joyce’s arsenal. Now, hitters had two different fastballs to worry about, as well as his slider and occasional changeup. It also allowed him to get quick outs via grounders because of the downward movement on the pitch. Suddenly, he became unhittable for the rest of the season.

“It was cool how quickly it developed,” Joyce said. “Going out there every time and trusting my stuff, I think that made all of my pitches play better in the long run.”

Joyce went on to post a 0.83 ERA with 32 strikeouts and 13 walks in 32 2/3 innings the rest of the way, while picking up four saves. It put him in a spot to potentially close for the Angels this season, as they haven’t added anyone in free agency to take over the role and veteran reliever Robert Stephenson is expected to miss the start of the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery last April.

“I'm comfortable if we have to go into the season with Ben Joyce as the closer,” manager Ron Washington said. “But we certainly have to watch him because he's never had to be the guy to help a club grind through 162 games.”

Joyce knows that durability is his next big challenge, and he’s worked hard this offseason at Maven Baseball Lab in Atlanta to get ready for 2025. He took a month off throwing before getting back after it in November and just started throwing off a mound in late January with pitchers and catchers set to report to camp in Tempe, Ariz., on Feb. 11.

Joyce plans to arrive to Arizona on Sunday to get a head start and has high hopes for the upcoming season because of the work he’s put in. He also proposed to his girlfriend, Anna, on Jan. 25 and is excited for what’s ahead.

“My main focus is just building myself up to stay healthy for a full 75 outing-plus season,” Joyce said. “I think I'm in the in the best spot I've ever been in, physically and mentally. I feel mentally prepared for what to expect from a full season. I just feel like I’m in a really good spot.”