Angels place reliever Ben Joyce on injured list with shoulder inflammation

HOUSTON (AP) — The Los Angeles Angels placed right-handed reliever Ben Joyce on the 15-day injured list with inflammation in his throwing shoulder Friday.

His stint on the injured list is retroactive to Wednesday after the average velocity on his fastball dipped to 99.3 mph in his last outing Tuesday against Tampa Bay after it averaged 101.3 mph on Sunday against Cleveland.

“We don’t have any idea the length, but we're certainly going to back off him and let him rest and we’ll know more as we continue to see where it goes,” manager Ron Washington said.

Joyce is 1-0 with a 6.23 ERA in five appearances this season.

“It’s a big blow to lose him,” Washington said. “He’s a big piece. We can use him in many spots. Our intentions when we came out of spring training was for him to be our eighth-inning pitcher, but the way the season has been going, we’ve been having to use him in the seventh or the eighth, whichever way when the big part of their lineup comes up. He’s been the guy that’s been taking care of that.”

Los Angeles recalled right-hander Michael Darrell-Hicks from Triple-A Salt Lake to take Joyce's spot on the roster.

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