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Ben Joyce nearly hits 105 mph on the final out of the Tennessee alum's first career MLB save

On3 imageby: Dan Morrison08/04/24dan_morrison96
Ben Joyce
Ben Joyce - © Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles Angels relief pitcher and Tennessee Volunteers alum Ben Joyce recorded his first career save against the New York Mets. To cap it off, he nearly hit 105 mph on the final out of the game

Joyce has always been a flamethrower, but seeing 105 mph on the screen is something else, even if the number that flashed on the screen was technically rounding up. Technically, his fastball to get the final out was only 104.7 mph.

Watch as Ben Joyce records the final out of his first career save, here:

Ben Joyce also recorded the final out against J.D. Martinez, a veteran hitter who has been known as one of the best right-handed bats in baseball. This time, however, he couldn’t catch up to the heat in the lower part of the zone.

This comes amid what has been a very frustrating season for the Angels. After losing Shohei Ohtani to the cross-town Los Angeles Dodgers in the offseason, star Mike Trout went down with an injury that, as it was recently revealed, will cost him the rest of the season. A young team that’s trying to figure out who it can rely on in the future, the Angels are now just 48-63 on the season. That’s the third-worst record in the American League.

In many respects, Ben Joyce has been a bright spot for the Angels. He’s made 21 appearances on the season, pitching 24.2 innings to this point. In that time, he has an ERA of 1.82, a WHIP of 1.095, and 21 strikeouts. All of those numbers are massive steps forward from the 2023 season.

Getting to the point where he can be closing out MLB games was no small task for Ben Joyce. He had to miss his first season at Tennessee after needing Tommy John surgery. Still, he was able to bounce back from that and become a third round pick. His rookie season in 2023 was then cut short by an ulnar neuritis injury that landed him on the 60-day injured list.

As one of the hardest throwing pitchers in the game, elbow and shoulder injuries are likely going to be a concern. That’s something he’s going to need to try to manage throughout the course of his career, especially given how important velocity is to his game.

From here, the 2024 season seems to be lost for the Angels as a team. However, establishing himself as the team’s closer could be a goal for Ben Joyce moving forward.