Ben Joyce on adding a splinker to his arsenal

This story was excerpted from Rhett Bollinger’s Angels Beat newsletter, with this edition handled by reporter Sonja Chen. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Those who were closely examining Angels rookie Ben Joyce‘s radar readings during the Angels’ 8-6 win over the Giants on Friday night may have noticed something improbable: a changeup clocking in at the mid-90s.

The hard-throwing right-hander may be able to touch triple digits with ease, but even he can’t rewrite the rules of pitch design. Joyce revealed that the new pitch was a “splinker” — a hybrid offering that has the velocity of a sinker with the movement profile of a splitter.

Because Statcast does not recognize splinkers as a pitch category — they tend to register as splitters, though Joyce’s have been logged as changeups, four-seamers and the odd slider — there is no exhaustive list of pitchers who have it in their bag. The most high-profile splinker throwers are Twins closer Jhoan Duran and Pirates rookie Paul Skenes, as well as Angels starter José Soriano.

Developing a new pitch can take time, but it was a relatively quick process for Joyce. Earlier this year, he and Angels coaches had discussed adding a sinker, since it could play well with his lower arm slot, but he couldn’t figure out the right grip to get consistent results as he worked on it from time to time.

Once Joyce was recalled from Double-A Rocket City on June 2 for his second stint in the Majors, he was able to pick the brains of several Angels pitchers, particularly Soriano and veteran reliever Hunter Strickland, who showed him the grip he uses for his sinker. With a few tweaks, it clicked for Joyce.

“Last week in Arizona, we were kind of talking through it,” Joyce said. “I found a grip that just felt good right away and just ended up working on it a few times off the mound. It felt good enough to throw in a game.”

Strickland, who has thrown sinkers in previous years, learned this grip from Angels pitching strategist Bill Hezel. It’s more like a one-seam sinker as opposed to the conventional two-seamer, and as a result, Strickland’s sinker is averaging about seven more inches of vertical break this season compared with 2022 (he did not appear in the Majors in ’23).

When Joyce was working on developing something similar, Strickland was more than happy to pay it forward.

“When I came up, people helped me and just kind of took me under their wing,” Strickland said. “There’s always things for us to learn individually, but to give back, it means a lot.”

Joyce has not shied away from using his splinker in game action. He estimated that he threw it on 10 of his 27 pitches on Friday. He went heavy on it again as the opener on Sunday, throwing it for around 20 of his 42 pitches.

Joyce pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings with one hit allowed in those two outings. He struck out four against three walks. While the results can’t be attributed to the splinker alone, it certainly adds an extra dimension to his arsenal.

Although Joyce’s fastball averages a tick under 101 mph, it’s been hittable. So has his upper-80s slider. The splinker comes in at a third speed — the mid-to-high 90s — and moves differently due to its lower spin rate. And because the release point for all three is similar, it’s more difficult to identify which pitch is leaving Joyce’s hand.

Angels manager Ron Washington hopes that the new offering will help Joyce work some more efficient innings and harness the adrenaline that comes with having a big arm.

“This kid’s got that mentality of, ‘I’m going at you,'” Washington said. “I told him that the time will come when he can have that mentality where he’s the last man standing out of the bullpen. But right now, the innings he picks up, he’s just got to learn how to use his stuff.”

Joyce isn’t going to become a finesse pitcher overnight, and the Angels aren’t expecting him to — they want him to use what he has. But the new addition is a good start when it comes to evolving from a thrower to a pitcher.

Some pitchers can get by with a two-pitch mix, but Joyce knows how important it is to create advantages at the highest level of the game.

“You’re facing big league hitters,” he said. “They can adjust to anything. So just having another wrinkle in there for them to think about, whether that makes them a little more uncomfortable or just have something in the back of their head, I think that’s always going to help.”