The Angels’ search for a closer has gone from messy to downright bleak, and Ben Joyce is the latest arm to get caught in the wreckage.
Los Angeles gave Joyce a real shot to seize the ninth inning, but the flamethrowing right-hander was shut down for the season with a shoulder impingement, according to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. The move comes after Joyce spent more than a month trying to lock down the job, only to come up short.
Joyce’s path back had already been a long one. He had shoulder surgery in May of 2025 and didn’t make it back to the bullpen until early August after spending most of the season on the IL. Even then, the Angels handled him carefully, never using him on back-to-back days despite the fact that he still brings elite velocity and regularly hits 100 mph or more.
But once the leverage climbed, the issues followed. Joyce’s pitch count climbed quickly in those spots, and his last appearance came last Saturday.
After playing catch on Tuesday, he told the team something didn’t feel right. When the feeling was still there on Wednesday, the Angels opted to shut him down as a precaution.
Joyce said it “didn’t feel like [the shoulder] “ bounced back very well” when he tried to play catch, and he described what happened as a flare-up. With the season winding down, the club decided there was no point pushing him toward a possible weekend appearance against the Seattle Mariners.
Trevor Martin was recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake in the corresponding move, and Ryan Watson is expected to handle closing duties the rest of the way, per Bollinger.
That role has been a revolving door all year. The Angels have cycled through different looks in the ninth, with Sammy Peralta throwing three scoreless frames in relief of right-hander Grayson Rodriguez before passing the ball to Watson for a scoreless ninth.
Almost everybody in the bullpen has gotten a turn, and the results have ranged from shaky to flat-out rough. Jordan Romano was the first name in the mix, and he’s now with the Colorado Rockies. Kirby Yates was dealt at the deadline to the Pittsburgh Pirates, and he announced his retirement this weekend.
If there’s been one reliever who looks like he could stick in the job, it’s Samy Natera Jr., who has the velocity and the edge to handle it. The problem is health. Natera has been banged up lately, which leaves the Angels’ offseason closer hunt very much alive.
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