Ben Joyce, former Tennessee flamethrower, records first professional strikeout

Ben Joyce threw the fastest pitch in college baseball history while helping the Tennessee Volunteers to an impressive regular season and an SEC Tournament title in 2022.

Now, he’s a member of the Los Angeles Angels’ organization after being selected by the team in the third round of the 2022 MLB Draft.

Playing for the Double-A Rocket City Trash Pandas, Joyce recorded his first-career professional strikeout on Saturday night, getting a hitter to bite on a slider up in the zone:

From @Vol_Baseball flamethrower to @trashpandas hurler.

That's strikeout No. 1 in the pro career of @Angels third-round pick Ben Joyce: pic.twitter.com/1eQs13Qz8v

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 7, 2022

Don’t worry — the fastball was looking good, too:

100 MPH paint from Ben Joyce #Angels pic.twitter.com/0jH45B666H

— Jared Tims (@Jared_Tims) August 7, 2022

However, Joyce’s results weren’t all that great. He went a full inning, but allowed 4 hits and 2 earned runs.

We’ll see how his career progresses moving forward, but he at least has that first strikeout under his belt.

Adam Spencer

Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.