Angels Manager Doesn't Know if Ben Joyce Will Be Healthy By Start of 2026 Season

When the initial shock wore off from Wednesday's news that Angels pitcher Ben Joyce would miss the remainder of the 2025 season after undergoing surgery to repair his right shoulder, the next question was obvious: When will he be back?

Although it's reasonable to assume Joyce can resume pitching for the Angels sometime in 2026, manager Ron Washington isn't prepared to say the right-hander will be healthy at the outset of next season.

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"I don’t have any information on that right now," Washington told reporters, including Jeff Fletcher of the Southern California News Group, on Wednesday in San Diego. "I really don’t.”

Joyce was 1-0 with a 6.23 ERA in five games this season before he suffered the shoulder injury. He was initially placed on the 10-day injured list April 11, leaving him eligible to return in relatively short order.

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That changed last Friday, when the Angels transferred Joyce to the 60-day IL amid a flurry of roster moves.

Wednesday's announcement amounted to the worst-case outcome for a pitcher who had been attempting to come back from what was first thought to be a minor ailment.

More news: Angels Make Unfortunate Announcement Regarding Ben Joyce's Injury Recovery

Joyce was seen as a potential closer coming into the season — if not at the outset, then perhaps down the road, if the Angels were to trade veteran Kenley Jansen to a contending team at the deadline, as they have done in years past with Raisel Iglesias, Carlos Estevez and others.

Joyce, 24, was the Angels' third-round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft out of the University of Tennessee. His blazing fastball once touched 105.5 mph in college, putting his name on the draft map.

Ben Joyce, 105.5 MPH Fastball. 😳⛽️ pic.twitter.com/WeMIJp1fX8
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 4, 2024

Last year, Joyce threw the fastest pitch delivered by any pitcher in 2024, a 105.5 mph fastball to the Dodgers' Tommy Edman on Sept. 4.

The only major league pitcher known to throw harder than Joyce is Aroldis Chapman, who reached 105.8 mph in 2010 and 105.7 mph in 2016.

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In 48 career MLB games, Joyce is 4-1 with a 3.12 ERA.

The 2025 Angels bullpen:

t-last in ERA (7.07)
t-last in WHIP (1.73)
Last in FIP (5.38)
Last in fWAR (-1.3)
Highest OPS against (.902)
Highest HR/9 (1.49)
Most HR allowed (28)
— Brent Maguire (@bmags94) May 14, 2025

With Joyce's return nowhere in sight, the Angels selected Shaun Anderson's contract from Triple-A Salt Lake, where he had been starting. They signed journeyman left-hander Andrew Vazquez to a minor league deal and started the minor league rehab clocks on right-handers Sam Bachman and Robert Stephenson.

Which of them, if any, will help lower the majors' worst bullpen ERA (6.97 through Thursday), is unclear. The only certainty is Joyce won't be able to help until April 2026 — at the earliest.

For more Angels news, head over to Angels on SI.