José Soriano, Ben Joyce look to build upon strong 2024 seasons

This story was excerpted from Rhett Bollinger’s Angels Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox

ANAHEIM — The Angels shut down two of their most promising young pitchers this week, as right-handers José Soriano and flamethrowing closer Ben Joyce won’t pitch again in 2024.

But both pitchers had a breakout season, and they will be counted on heavily next season and beyond. Soriano, 25, was placed on the 15-day injured list with right arm fatigue on Aug. 17, and he underwent MRIs on both his elbow and shoulder that came back clean. Joyce, 23, was placed on the 15-day IL on Sept. 10 with right shoulder discomfort and had an MRI that revealed only inflammation. They should be fully healthy by October and will have a normal offseason heading into next year.

Soriano had an impressive rookie season in relief last year with a 3.64 ERA in 42 innings, but he was surprisingly moved into a starting role this season. He flourished in his new role, posting a 3.42 ERA with 97 strikeouts in 113 innings. It was a big jump in innings for Soriano, who said he’s looking to build on that for a full healthy season in ’25.

“It feels great to make it that far,” Soriano said through interpreter Manny Del Campo. “It’s the farthest I’ve ever been. But I’m going to keep working to be ready for the next season. I’m going to be healthy. I’m going to work harder to be healthy and do the right things to be healthier.”

Catcher Matt Thaiss, who caught Soriano five times this year, believes he can be an ace going forward. Soriano’s sinker averaged 97.7 mph, and he paired it with a curveball and splitter that both generated plenty of grounders.

“He can be a frontline, top-of-the-rotation, top-five starter in baseball,” Thaiss said. “You saw plenty of flashes of it this year. You didn’t see too many negatives. He’s got the poise, the stuff, everything to be that No. 1 guy for us.”

Angels manager Ron Washington said Soriano has plenty to be proud about this season, but that it was a learning experience for him in his first full campaign as a starter. Soriano came up as a starter, but he underwent two elbow surgeries as a Minor Leaguer before the Angels decided to reintroduce him to that role this year.

“He has to go through the process,” Washington said. “I think where he was cut off this year, he’ll learn to get past that. I think his winter workout will be much more vigorous because he cares, and he doesn’t want to have to go through a season and all of a sudden hit a wall. So we’re going to be on top of him. We’re going to give him a program, and then he’ll get this experience again, and I think he’ll take it a little further than he took it this year.”

Joyce, meanwhile, finally learned to harness his incredible stuff and added a sinker to his mix to help him get quick outs. He posted a 2.08 ERA with 33 strikeouts and one homer allowed in 34 2/3 innings, including an 0.83 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 32 2/3 innings over his final 28 appearances.

“I feel like I made a lot of strides this year,” Joyce said. “It was an up-and-down year in terms of how it started, and then I feel like I put together a pretty good stretch, and I’m pretty proud of how that went.”

Joyce’s fastball averaged an astounding 102.1 mph and reached as high as 105.5 mph, which was the third-hardest pitch thrown in the pitch-tracking era, dating back to 2008. After Carlos Estévez was sent to the Phillies at the Trade Deadline, he moved into the closer’s role and picked up four saves. He’ll head into next year as the closer, which is one fewer thing the Angels have to worry about this offseason as they look to make improvements to the roster.

“He’s a huge piece,” Washington said. “You always want to have that. Now, we’ve just got to put some pieces in that bullpen that can get the ball to the back end. If our starters can continue to progress the way they’ve progressed this year and give us six or seven innings, we might be a team that only has to play six or seven innings, because we’ll have a bullpen that can get us three innings at the end.”