ANAHEIM, Calif. — The overall numbers are solid, but Ben Joyce 's game still isn't where he wants it.
Since returning from shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum, Joyce is pitching to a 3.38 ERA with five saves and 15 strikeouts in 13 ⅓ innings. There have been hiccups along the way, though, including two blown saves and a current stretch of eight walks in his last 7 ⅓ innings of work.
"I do," Joyce said when asked if he feels he's still working on getting back to himself. "It's been a hard two years. It's been a long time away from the game, a lot of situations I haven't been in in two years. From recovery, whatever in-game situations, it's just trying to get that feel back and get more experience in those situations. It's a roller coaster, for sure. There's ups and downs."
A tangible area of his game that the right-handed fireballer feels behind in is his offspeed pitches. Joyce has battled with command issues with his slider and splinker (splitter and sinker hybrid), which has limited his usage of those pitches.
Because of inconsistencies with his offspeed pitches, Joyce is forced to rely on his fastball more. He's thrown the fastball 67% of the time, whereas he uses his splinker 25% of the time and only 8% for the slider.
"When you're doing rehab, your whole throwing program is fastballs and getting feel for that," Joyce said. "I think (sliders) was the last step for me. Obviously, it's hard to work on something in that situation. You're doing whatever you can to put up a zero, get a save, whatever it might be. I think that's definitely the last step that I feel like I need to get over."
The bigger issues for Joyce are the things that aren't possible to work on in rehab, like the adrenaline rush of a save situation in the big leagues.
"Runners on first and second, one out in the ninth inning, I haven't felt that in a long time," Joyce said. "Getting your feet back under you in those situations, for sure. You can't really simulate that in a rehab outing."
In terms of his health, Joyce said he "feels pretty good," and that there are good days and bad days. As frustrating as it is not feeling consistent, he knows that this is par for the course when returning from a big shoulder surgery.
Joyce also said that he's talked to other pitchers who have gone through the same surgery to help him navigate the trials and tribulations of returning to form.
"It's a long process," Joyce said. "They say 12 to 18 months for a reason. The tissue is completely different in there. It's just getting used to it and getting wins every day, whatever that might be.
"Getting out of that situation (runners on first and second in the ninth), for me, that was a win. I didn't have my best stuff. I ended up getting the job done. If I worry about the walks every time or being in the zone with my slider, I think that's a slippery slope. It's just get the wins every day and try to go out there and do my job and help the team win."
Joyce is looking forward to a healthy offseason where he can further sharpen himself up for next season.
On Monday, MLB announced the nominations for the Roberto Clemente Award. Each team gets one nominee, and Zach Neto is the Angels ' representative. The award is handed out to the player who best represents baseball through character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions on and off the field, per MLB's website .
"It means the world," Neto said. "Me and my family talk about it all the time. This game is bigger than just itself on the field. There's a way bigger story outside. And to me personally, I think this award in general is the most important award out of every single award there is in the major leagues."
As a nominee, Neto will wear Clemente's number 21 for the Angels' game on Tuesday night as the league celebrates Roberto Clemente Day.
This October, the Angels will have eight minor league players playing for the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League.
The list includes right-handed pitcher Peyton Olejnik of Single-A Tri City, right-handed pitcher Kyle Robinson of Double-A Rocket City, right-handed pitcher Sam Tookoian of Single-A Tri City, right-handed pitcher Yeferson Vargas of Single-A Tri City, right-handed pitcher Najer Victor of Triple-A Salt Lake, third baseman Jake Munroe of Double-A Rocket City, shortstop Arjun Nimmala of Double-A Rocket City and first baseman Ryland Zaborowski of Single-A Tri City.
The headliner for the Angels is Nimmala, whom the Angels acquired in the José Soriano trade at the deadline. He ranks 37th in MLB Pipeline's top 100 prospects and is the Angels' best prospect.
Nimmala is slashing .260/.389/.577 with a .966 OPS and eight home runs in the 27 games at Double-A Rocket City since joining the Angels organization.
Once Nimmala gets the call to the big leagues sometime in the future, he will become the second player in MLB history to have Indian descent, with the first being Rangers right-hander Kumar Rocker in 2024.
