The Angels have spent most of this season trying to solve the ninth inning on the fly, and it has not gone smoothly. Los Angeles has blown more than half of its save chances, and its 4.52 ERA in the ninth ranks 20th in MLB this season.
That instability has shown up in the box score, too. Jordan Romano, Kirby Yates, and Ryan Zeferjahn each led the team with six save opportunities, while Sam Bachman was next with four.
But for Angels fans, that list tells the story: three of those four pitchers are no longer around. Yates and Zeferjahn were moved at the deadline, Romano was DFA'd and then released back in April, and Bachman landed on the 15-day IL on August 5.
Now the Angels may finally have a real answer in Ben Joyce.
Los Angeles activated Joyce off the injured list on August 4, the day after the trade deadline, and he’s looked every bit like the late-inning weapon the club has been waiting for. Joyce first burst onto the scene in 2023 with elite extension and a fastball that averaged 100.9 mph, but the missing piece was command.
In 2024, after beginning the year in Triple-A, he came back sharper. The control issues weren’t nearly as loud, and his fastball climbed to a 102.1 average.
He posted a 2.08 ERA in 34.1 innings before inflammation in his throwing shoulder ended his season in early September.
The promise was obvious. Joyce looked like the guy who could own the ninth for a long time.
Then 2025 hit. The then-23-year-old struggled through five games, went back on the shelf with shoulder inflammation, and eventually had surgery to repair a torn labrum.
That wiped out the rest of his 2025 season. He began a rehab assignment in late April of 2026, but his recovery stalled, sending him back down until July, when he started another rehab stint.
Now 25, Joyce is back and dealing. Through his first six appearances, he has given up one hit and one walk while striking out eight and allowing no runs.
He’s also 3-for-3 in save chances. The velocity is still there, sitting in the high 101s, and his sinker has produced whiffs on two-thirds of the pitches he’s thrown.
It’s a tiny sample, and the biggest priority for Joyce from here is simple: stay healthy. But he hasn’t shown this kind of dominance before, and for an Angels team that had a strong deadline and a young core to build around, getting a healthy Joyce in the mix only adds to the optimism around what comes next.
In Other News...
Angels Trade Reset Looks Tougher As One Exits Starts Turning Heads
The Angels deadline reset looked drastic in the moment, and a few weeks later it is starting to look even more layered. Seven players were moved before the MLB trade deadline, a haul that included Jo Adell, Jose Soriano and Logan OHoppe, and the early returns have been mixed in the way these things often are when a club tries to turn the page quickly. Some of the newcomers elsewhere have settled in immediately, while others are still finding their footing.
Adell has drawn attention with a hitting streak for the Cleveland Guardians, and Sorianos stint with the Toronto Blue Jays has already come with its share of ups and downs. Brent Suter and Kirby Yates have also made good first impressions with their new clubs, which only adds to the sense that this deadline was less a clean break than a live evaluation of what the Angels gave up and what they might eventually wish they had held onto. [Read more 🡒]
Jo Adell Meant More To The Angels Than Fans Realized
Jo Adells run with the Angels is over after the former outfielder was traded to the Cleveland Guardians on Aug. 3, but the exit feels bigger than a simple roster move. For years, he was one of the more closely watched players in the organization, and even in the uneven stretches there were moments that made him easy to remember, from the rare sight of multiple home run robberies in a single game to a key walk-off hit-by-pitch that sent the Angels home happy.
What stood out, though, was how much he gave the club beyond the box score. Adell also built a reputation for community work, starting a charitable foundation and speaking to at-risk youth, which gave his time in Anaheim a deeper footprint than many fans may have realized. And after a breakout 2025 season that featured 37 home runs, his departure leaves the Angels not just with another opening in the outfield, but with the lingering sense that his value in orange and red went well beyond the highlights. [Read more 🡒]
Angels Suddenly Have A Rotation Problem Fans Didn't See Coming
After the Angels dismissed pitching coach Mike Maddux, the starting staff has responded with a sharp run that has changed the feel of the rotation almost overnight. Since Aug. 11, the clubs starters have put together a 1.51 ERA over 65 2/3 innings, a stretch that has made the group look far more stable than it did earlier in the season.
Manager Kurt Suzuki has pointed to a simplified approach that leans into what each pitcher does best, and the results have given the Angels something they did not have much of before: real choices. With several starters still turning in mixed performances, the club is now sorting through its rotation options at a time when the internal competition may be just as important as the recent improvement itself. [Read more 🡒]