College RHP blows away hitter with 104 mph heat
Volunteers' Joyce has 0.00 ERA in 9 games, and it's easy to see why
Ben Joyce might be the hardest-throwing pitcher in all of baseball. And he's still in college.
The Tennessee redshirt junior has been making waves on social media for his triple-digit fastball. This weekend, Joyce even reached 104 mph.
The last time there was a 104 mph fastball in Major League Baseball was in 2019, from the Cardinals' Jordan Hicks. Joyce has approached the 104 mph mark more than once this season -- he also did so in a game in late February, which helped put him on the map. Hicks and Aroldis Chapman are the only pitchers like that at the Major League level.
Joyce has been popping up on Pitching Ninja's feed for about a month now as he lights up college stadium radar guns. Pitching Ninja has dubbed him "the Volunteer Fireman."
With Joyce's fastball turning heads, his Draft stock is rising ahead of the 2022 Draft. It seems like almost every pitch Joyce throws is over 100 mph. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound right-hander has been sitting at 101, 102, 103 mph and overpowering NCAA hitters. Joyce has a 0.00 ERA in nine appearances and 10 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.
He's doing all this after coming back from Tommy John surgery in October 2020, too -- a surgery that ended the career of his twin brother Zach, who was also a flamethrowing pitcher.