MINNEAPOLIS — A week after Ben Joyce wowed the baseball world by throwing a pitch at 105.5 mph, he found himself on the injured list with shoulder inflammation.
While these two facts might seem to be unavoidably related, Joyce said he doesn’t believe there’s any need to tone down his velocity.
“I feel like that’s how I’ve thrown my whole career,” Joyce said on Tuesday. “I think I’m just continuing to build myself up and trust that my body can handle it. It’s just part of the process right now.”
Joyce, who had Tommy John surgery while he was in college, said he hasn’t had an MRI exam yet, but he’s expecting to have one. Last season he missed time with a nerve issue. He said he’s never had a shoulder problem.
For now, he said he’s “not concerned” about the injury, and his “plan” is to pitch again this season. He’d be eligible to be activated for the final week of the season.
Whether Joyce comes back this season, the larger question is whether his velocity is going to present a constant injury risk.
Joyce has averaged 102.1 mph with his four-seam fastball this season. His hardest pitch was the 105.5 mph third strike to the Dodgers’ Tommy Edman last Tuesday. It was the third-hardest pitch recorded since tracking began in 2008.
Days after that pitch, though, Joyce began to feel some discomfort in his shoulder. He said he felt it while playing catch over the weekend in Texas.
On Monday night in Minneapolis, the Angels had four-run lead in the ninth inning. Although that wasn’t a save situation, the Angels had used Joyce in two other games with four- and five-run leads when he was fresh. In this case, Joyce had enough days off prior to the game that it was surprising that he didn’t at least start to throw once José Suarez issued a walk in the ninth.
After the game, Manager Ron Washington was asked if Joyce was OK and he said: “Yeah. Can’t get him in.”
A day later, Washington acknowledged that Joyce’s shoulder “flared up a few days ago, and we figured to give him a day or so, and never got an opportunity to use him. Then I found out that we’re shutting him down too. We’re not expecting him to be finished for the year.”
The Angels recalled right-hander Guillo Zuñiga to take Joyce’s roster spot. Washington said they would use a “committee” to close games while Joyce is out.
Anthony Rendon and Washington both said on Monday that they expected the third baseman to be back in the lineup quickly after a bout with a sore back.
By Tuesday, that changed too.
Rendon was placed on the injured list with an oblique strain.
“It started with his hip and back area, and now it moved to his oblique,” Washington said. “So just got to wait to see what happens. I’m not going to sit here and say it’s the end of the year, but he’s got to go on the IL.”
Rendon would be eligible to be activated on Sept. 18.
This is his third stint on the injured list this season, missing more than two months with a torn hamstring and then a couple of weeks with a back issue.
Rendon has missed significant time in each of the last four seasons. He has played 57 games this season, which is one shy of the most he’s played with the Angels.
Rendon is in the fifth year of a seven-year, $245 million contract. He said on Monday that he’s going to “keep fighting my ass off” to avoid injuries and reclaim his spot as a productive player.
Eric Wagaman, a 27-year-old product of Aliso Niguel High and Orange Coast College, was promoted to take Rendon’s spot. It is his first time in the majors.
Although Wagaman had been in the minors since 2017, he said he never lost hope that he’d reach the majors.
“I just love playing baseball, so it never felt like a long time,” Wagaman said. “Every year I really enjoy going out there and paying, so it never felt like it was taking a toll or like it was a grind.”
The New York Yankees originally drafted Wagaman, and the Angels picked him in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft last December. He was hitting .320 with an .855 OPS at Triple-A, after starting the season in Double-A. Wagaman is primarily a first baseman, but the Angels plan to try him at third.
The Angels moved left-hander Matt Moore to the 60-day injured list to open a spot for Wagaman on the 40-man roster. Moore was diagnosed with elbow inflammation. Although the Angels never provided the results of further testing that he underwent, the roster move ends his season. Moore, 35, had a 5.03 ERA this season. He said after he was injured last month that he plans to continue his career next season. …
When right-hander Jack Kochanowicz starts the series finale in Minnesota, he will have a chance to be the first Angels pitcher since Shohei Ohtani in 2021 to have six consecutive quality starts (at least six innings, no more than three earned runs). Prior to Ohtani, no one had done it since 2015.
Angels (RHP Jack Kochanowicz, 2-4, 4.89 ERA) at Twins (RHP Zebby Matthews, 1-3, 7.36 ERA), Wednesday, 4:10 p.m. PT, Bally Sports West, 830 AM
