Angels rookie Ben Joyce listed with ulnar neuritis as team awaits MRI results

Angels hard-throwing rookie right-hander Ben Joyce was put on the 15-day injured list before Saturday’s game against the Seattle Mariners.

The reliever, who was removed from Friday’s game after facing just one batter, was listed with ulnar neuritis in his right elbow. Joyce was scheduled for an MRI exam Saturday, the results of which have not yet been revealed.

“He’s sore, as expected, probably a little down, but wait on the results before we start talking about anything,” Angels manager Phil Nevin said before the game.

After one pitch in the middle of Joyce’s brief outing Friday, he said he began to feel tingling and numbness in his hand and forearm. Pitching coach Matt Wise chatted with Joyce on the mound after he walked the one batter he faced, and that’s when Joyce relayed what he was feeling.

“Just kind of told them that and they called the trainer out,” Joyce said after Friday’s game.

Joyce said the last time he felt a tingling sensation in his hand, he needed Tommy John surgery in 2020. He said he couldn’t tell whether this feeling was similar to the previous one.

“I’m not gonna jump to any conclusions or anything,” Joyce said.

Ulnar neuritis refers to inflammation of the ulnar nerve, explained Dr. Alan Beyer, executive medical director at the Hoag Orthopedic Institute and an orthopedic surgeon. Beyer is not Joyce’s physician and spoke to The Times as an expert on the type of injury.

Angels pitcher Ben Joyce speaks to teammates as Angels manager Phil Nevin, left, arrives at the mound during the fourth inning of a 5-4 win over the Seattle Mariners on Friday.

(Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press)

People suffering from ulnar neuritis typically feel symptoms in the fourth and fifth fingers, which are the fingers connected to the ulnar nerve, Beyer said. But ulnar neuritis does not mean Joyce is destined to miss significant time.

“The ulnar nerve travels right next to where the ulnar collateral ligament is, the ligament that’s injured when people need Tommy John surgery,” Beyer said. “It’s not necessarily a precursor to that person needing Tommy John surgery.”

Ulnar neuritis also can occur in people who have had Tommy John surgery. If an MRI doesn’t show soft tissue signs of injury and reveals just inflammation, Beyer said, then the typical treatment would be shutting down a player from throwing for one or two weeks and then gauging the player day to day to see how they respond to more conservative therapy methods.

Joyce was called up May 28, when veteran reliever Matt Moore was placed on the IL with a Grade 2 oblique strain. Moore started throwing again on the field before Saturday’s game.

Joyce, whom the Angels picked at No. 89 in last year’s draft, had success in the brief time in the majors.

In four outings (four innings pitched) before Friday, Joyce had given up two earned runs and five hits, walked three and struck out five. Joyce gave up those two earned runs in Houston on June 3, but he still completed the inning.

Angels’ moves

The Angels called up right-hander Gerardo Reyes to take Joyce’s spot in the bullpen. Reyes has been pitching with the team’s triple-A affiliate in Salt Lake City.

The Angels also have Andrew Wantz and Jimmy Herget among their reliever options at triple A, but decided on Reyes.

“He’s throwing hard, throwing a lot of strikes, landing the slider in the zone,” Nevin said of Reyes’ progress. “Always had a big arm, but this has been the most consistent strikes he’s thrown in a long time.

“So he’s throwing the best of all the guys down there.”

Also on the Angels’ transaction report: Hunter Renfroe returned from the paternity list. Jo Adell was optioned back to triple A. Max Stassi was transferred to the 60-day IL.