ANAHEIM — With Ben Joyce’s balky right shoulder still not feeling “right,” the Angels made a decision that will have the relief pitcher on the sidelines for at least another month.
The Angels moved Joyce to the 60-day injured list on Friday. Because he’s already been out for a month, it’s not necessarily a sign he’s going to have surgery or any type of season-ending injury. An evaluation sometime next week could provide more clarity.
While the roster move isn’t definitively bad news, it’s certainly not good news that Joyce isn’t improving.
“It’s frustrating for me, and I’m sure everyone else involved,” Joyce said. “I just want to pitch. I want to be part of the team. I don’t know exactly the concern level. We’re just kind of evaluating as we go.”
Joyce last pitched on April 8. He underwent an MRI exam that showed shoulder inflammation. He tried to throw in late April and it didn’t feel right, so he took another break. He tried to throw again on Tuesday and it still didn’t feel right, Joyce said.
Joyce said he’s going to “see a doctor next week and just see what the options are from there.”
Joyce, 24, provides an electric arm at the back end of the bullpen when he’s right. He has a 3.12 ERA in 49 major league innings.
Joyce has thrown a fastball 105 mph, and his average was 102.1 mph last season. However, he’s also been hurt several times, raising the obvious question of whether throwing that hard is sustainable.
“I just want to be healthy,” Joyce said. “I want to contribute to the team. Obviously at this point, I just want to get healthy and not think about what the velo is. If I can pitch, whatever that is, I want to do it. But it definitely makes me rethink how I approach things on a day to day basis. Just whatever I can do to stay healthy.”
Joyce had Tommy John surgery in college, a nerve problem in his elbow in 2023 and a minor shoulder issue at the end of 2024.
JOHNSON GOES DOWN
Since Joyce has been out the Angels have been constantly shuffling their bullpen to find some combination of arms that works, and the latest casualty was right-hander Ryan Johnson, who was optioned to Class-A Tri-Cities.
Manager Ron Washington was happy enough with Johnson’s work as recently as Tuesday, when he said that he was one of their top three high-leverage relievers.
Since then, Johnson retired only two of the eight batters he faced in two games, and on Friday he was sent to the minors.
Washington said they sent Johnson down three levels because that was “the best best place” for them to get him “to work on the things that we need him to work on.” Washington said specifically that Johnson needs to get better against lefties. Lefties were 10 for 22 against him, with three home runs.
Washington also said they haven’t decided if Johnson will work as a starter or reliever in the minors.
Johnson, 22, never pitched in the minors, making the team in his first spring training after being drafted last summer.
The Angels replaced Johnson with right-hander Shaun Anderson, a 30-year-old who will be appearing with his eighth major league team. He took the 40-man roster spot open with the Joyce move.
The Angels are trying whatever they can to find someone besides Ryan Zeferjahn and Kenley Jansen to be effective in the bullpen. In addition to the players they’ve already used in the majors, in the last week they’ve agreed to minor-league deals with veterans Hunter Strickland, Andrew Vazquez and Buck Farmer.
When Washington was asked who his current No. 3 high-leverage pitcher is, he said: “I don’t know. We got to put them out there and see. I do believe were going to put somebody out there in the sixth one time and they’ll get through. I do believe we’ll put someone out in the seventh and get through it. And then hopefully we’ll have something to work with. All we’ve been doing is trying, and it hasn’t been working. Somebody down there is going to have to step up. Somebody down there will step up.”
CAMPERO-LUGO SWAP
The Angels placed outfielder Gustavo Campero on the injured list with left ankle inflammation. They recalled outfielder Matthew Lugo for his major league debut.
Lugo, who turned 24 on Friday, was the key player acquired in last year’s Luis Garcia trade with Boston, along with Zeferjahn.
Lugo hit .293 with a .794 OPS in spring training, and then he went to Triple-A and hit .212 with a .656 OPS. He had a .799 OPS over his last 14 games, though.
Lugo had been a corner outfielder but the Angels have been working at getting him better in center field, late in spring training and at Triple-A. Washington said the reports are that Lugo “did a good job” in center.
NOTES
Jorge Soler was a late scratch from the Angels’ lineup because of groin tightness. …
Right-hander Sam Bachman (thoracic outlet syndrome) was scheduled to pitch for Class-A Inland Empire on Friday night in the second outing of his rehab assignment.
UP NEXT
Orioles (RHP Kyle Gibson, 0-1, 10.49 ERA) at Angels (RHP Jack Kochanowicz, 1-5, 5.79 ERA), Saturday, 6:38 p.m., FDSN West, 830 AM
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