HOUSTON — When Ben Joyce was ineffective and missing his normal velocity on Tuesday night, Angels manager Ron Washington said it was just an off night. The next day, Joyce said the same thing.
By Friday, though, the Angels acknowledged something else was wrong when they placed Joyce on the injured list with shoulder inflammation.
When the reliever was asked on Friday how concerned he is about the injury, he said: “I don’t really know yet. Just see how it progresses.”
Joyce said he didn’t think he was injured on Tuesday night or the next day. When he played catch in subsequent days and still didn’t feel right, the Angels sent him for an MRI exam that showed inflammation.
“I just thought it was normal soreness,” Joyce said on Friday. “It ended up getting re-evaluated and it’s just a little more inflamed than we wanted it to be.”
An arm problem is no surprise for Joyce.
The 24-year-old right-hander has thrown as hard as 105 mph. He had Tommy John surgery in college, a nerve problem in his elbow in 2023 and a minor shoulder issue at the end of 2024.
On Tuesday, his average four-seam fastball was 99.3 mph, compared with 102.1 mph last season. His sinker was 93.6 mph, down from 97.0 mph last season.
He gave up four hits and three runs, surrendering a two-run lead.
“I just thought it was just the day he had off,” Washington said on Friday. “He’s a human being. There’s no perfection in baseball. And as good as an arm as he has, there’s times when I have seen him get hit. So I only took it as that.”
Now, the Angels will be without Joyce for an undetermined amount of time.
They recalled right-hander Michael Darrell-Hicks to take his spot on the roster. Right-hander Ryan Zeferjahn and left-hander Brock Burke are likely to slide up in the pecking order in the bullpen, getting the toughest outs before closer Kenley Jansen.
“It’s a big blow to lose him,” Washington said. “He’s a big piece. I mean, we can use him in many spots. Our intention when we came out of spring training was for him to be our eighth inning pitcher. But the way the season has been going, we’ve been having to use him in the seventh or the eighth. When the big part of their lineup come up, he’s been the guy that has been taking care of that. Now someone else have to step up in that situation. That’s why they call it a team. You lose one. Someone else steps up.”
MONCADA UPDATE
Washington said he still didn’t have any more information on the tests on third baseman Yoán Moncada’s sprained right thumb. Moncada, who was placed on the injured list on Thursday, did some defensive drills on Friday, but Washington said he wouldn’t hit.
“We know he won’t be swinging a bat, that’s for sure,” Washington said. “So we’ll back off of that. Try to give that thumb a chance to settle in. A deep bone bruise is nothing to play with. You think it’s gone and something freak happens, and it’s right back. So he went to the IL. We’ll see if that helps.”
Moncada, who first hurt his thumb on March 12, said he was feeling better before he tried to play on Wednesday. One swing in his first at-bat knocked him out of the game, though.
“To be honest, it’s been a while it’s been bothering me,” Moncada said through an interpreter. “It doesn’t concern me. I’m just frustrated. I want to feel good.”
NOTES
Zach Neto started at shortstop on Friday night for Triple-A Salt Lake, the first time in his rehab assignment that he’s played shortstop on back-to-back days. Neto, who is rehabbing from shoulder surgery, played six innings at short on Thursday and he was scheduled for another six on Saturday. Washington said Neto needs to play nine innings on back-to-back days before he can be activated. The last day he can be on a rehab assignment, by rule, is April 20. If he’s not ready to come up after that, he would need to be optioned. …
Darrell-Hicks said his father was on the way to Salt Lake City to see him. When Darrell-Hicks got word that he was going to the majors, he couldn’t reach his father because he was in the air. He said when his father landed in Salt Lake City, he was already at the airport to fly to Houston. His father was able to quickly buy a ticket to get on the same flight from Salt Lake City to Houston. …
The Angels hit 18 homers in five games through Thursday, a franchise record.
UP NEXT
Angels (LHP Tyler Anderson, 0-0, 4.50 ERA) at Astros (RHP Ryan Gusto, 1-0, 1.13 ERA), Saturday, 4:10 p.m. PT, FDSN West, 830 AM
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