Top Pitching Prospect Could Return Before End of Season

Some reinforcements could be coming to the Angels bullpen as one of the team's best pitching prospects is close to recovering from injury. 

At the end of July, the Halos placed Ben Joyce on the 60-day injured list with ulnar neuritis in his arm. Now Joyce could salvage his season by getting a couple more pitching appearances before the year's end. 

The hard-throwing right-hander was shut down on July 27th and hasn't thrown much since. 

Now he is headed toward a minor-league rehab stint. He will have a couple of appearances with Triple-A Salt Lake before heading back to Los Angeles with the Angels. 

Manager Phil Nevin told reporters that Joyce has not lost any of the velocity that he is known for.

In college and the majors, Joyce has made noise as he regularly touches well above 100 with his fastball. 

All signs with him are well as Nevin is fully expecting to have Joyce back. 

“I would anticipate seeing him at some point if things go well in his next couple rehab (outings).”

Via Orange County Register

Before suffering his injury, Joyce was still finding his way around the Angels. 

Joyce appeared in five games and neither performed well mor badly. 

In four innings pitched, Joyce had a 4.50 ERA and 2.25 WHIP. He did show that he could miss some bats as he totaled 5 strikeouts. 

Now Joyce will be looking to continue building off the hype he's created for himself as a top prospect. 

Once he's fully healthy, the Angels will have a look at their top bullpen piece for the future.