Angels' Ben Joyce out for year with mysterious injury

Matthew Wadleigh

Angels' Ben Joyce out for year with mysterious injury  image

The Los Angeles Angels are already dealing with an injury to superstar outfielder Mike Trout, although he should be back at some point in the near future. 

Now, the Angels are going to be without flamethrowing pitcher Ben Joyce, as the team revealed on Wednesday, per the PR account. 

“Ben Joyce underwent surgery to repair his right shoulder earlier this morning. He is expected to miss the remainder of the season.”

Joyce last pitched on April 8 when he gave up three runs on four hits against the Tampa Bay Rays. He was then placed on the 60-day IL due to shoulder inflammation. 

Now, he is out for the season, and the Angels have yet to give an official injury diagnosis, as Sam Blum of The Athletic mentioned

"The Angels are declining to say what actual injury Ben Joyce suffered. Should come as no surprise that they won't say."

In September of last year, Joyce also went on the IL to end the year with a shoulder issue, so this is nothing new for the hard-throwing right-hander. 

However, it is interesting that the Angels have refused to reveal what exactly the injury was and what the surgery was for. Joyce, a 3rd round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, has only pitched in 48 games for the Angels and totaled 49 innings. 

In 2024, he went 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA and four saves in 31 games, but injuries have been a huge problem for Joyce, and this is another one to monitor when - or if - the Angels explain what went wrong. 

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Matthew Wadleigh

Matthew Wadleigh is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He was born and raised in Southern California and grew up a San Diego sports fan (yes, it’s tough, except for Aztecs hoops). Matthew went to Fresno State as a journalism major and got to see Davante Adams, Derek Carr, Paul George and Aaron Judge in person. Matthew has written for publications including ClutchPoints, Sportscasting, Fansided, Trojans Wire, UCLA Wire and Buffaloes Wire.