Angels' Ben Joyce: Fires scoreless frame in 2024 debut

Joyce earned a hold by tossing a scoreless inning while allowing one hit against San Diego on Wednesday.

Joyce was called up from the minors Sunday and was deployed in a high-leverage situation in his first outing with the big club, getting the eighth inning with the Angels up one run. The fireballing reliever immediately got into trouble when Fernando Tatis led off the frame with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch, but Joyce calmed down to retire the next three batters without Tatis advancing further. Joyce didn't notch any strikeouts, but he had his heater working in the outing, reaching 103.3 mph, per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. The right-hander fanned 34 batters over 19 frames in the minors this season and could certainly be a big bullpen asset (and perhaps a future closer) in the majors if he learns to harness his control. In 10 innings with the Angels as a rookie last season, Joyce fanned 10 batters but also issued nine free passes.