Ben Joyce’s Two-Fastball Magic: How a 98 MPH "Splinker" Makes His 105 MPH Heater Even Scarier

Important Note: This article breaks down advanced pitching concepts into simple terms. No baseball PhD required!

Meet Ben Joyce: The Human Rocket

Imagine a pitcher who can throw a baseball 105.5 miles per hour. That’s Ben Joyce. For context, that’s faster than most highway speed limits — and it’s one of the five fastest pitches ever recorded by modern tracking systems.

But there’s a catch. For a long time, Joyce had a problem: he basically had two pitches — a ridiculously fast four-seam fastball and a slider. The gap between them? A whopping 14 mph. That’s like driving a Ferrari on the highway, then suddenly switching to a golf cart. Hitters could see it coming a mile away.

The Problem: Too Fast, Too Straight

Why Two Pitches Weren’t Enough

Think of it like a magician with only one trick. If a magician only pulls rabbits out of hats, the audience stops being surprised. Same with pitching.

Joyce’s old arsenal looked like this:

The problems:

• Huge speed gap = hitters could time the fastball and sit on the slider
• Different release points = the ball came out of his hand differently for each pitch
• Wild command = Joyce couldn’t consistently put either pitch where he wanted
• Easy to guess = if the ball started high, it was probably a slider; if it looked straight, heater time

Key Insight: In pitching, deception matters as much as velocity. If hitters know what’s coming, even 105 mph gets hit.

The Solution: Enter the "Splinker"

What Is a Splinker?

In 2024, Joyce started tinkering with a new grip after chatting with teammates about sinkers. He created a splitter/sinker hybrid — hence "splinker."

Here’s the simple version: He holds the ball differently so his crazy arm speed doesn’t fully transfer to the ball. The result? A pitch that:

• Leaves his hand at ~98 mph (still insanely fast!)
• Spins way less than a normal fastball
• Drops like a sinker but without the wild wiggle

How He Learned It

1. Talked to teammates — specifically José Soriano, who throws his own splinker
2. Experimented all season — changed grip, shape, and speed constantly
3. Got hurt — shoulder surgery cost him most of 2025
4. Came back stronger — now featuring the splinker more than ever

Why This Pitch Is Weird (In a Good Way)

The Physics, Simplified

Normal sinkers: Backspin creates lift → ball fights gravity → appears to "sink" relative to a four-seamer.

Joyce’s splinker: His grip kills the spin on purpose.

Science Made Simple: Imagine spinning a top. Fast spin = stable, stays up. Slow spin = wobbles, falls faster. Joyce’s grip makes the ball spin so little it drops like a stone — but at 98 mph!

The Numbers Don’t Lie

• Only ONE pitcher (Josh Fleming) throws a sinker with lower spin than Joyce
• Velocity + Low Spin = UNFAIR — usually those two don’t go together
• His closest comparison? Former teammate José Soriano — who taught him the grip

The Secret Sauce: Velocity Gap Magic

The "Goldilocks" Gap

Most pitchers with two fastballs have a 3–5 mph gap. Joyce? 6–7 mph. That’s unprecedented.

Why This Gap Changes Everything

Think of it like a changeup — but thrown with fastball arm speed.

1. Same arm action → hitter sees "FASTBALL"
2. Different grip → ball comes out 6 mph slower
3. Less spin → ball drops 15 inches more than the four-seamer
4. Result → hitter swings over the top, or freezes entirely

How It Fools Hitters: The Tunnel Effect

What Is "Tunneling"?

Imagine a tunnel. Two pitches enter the same "tunnel" (release point and early flight path) but exit differently. The longer they stay in the tunnel together, the harder they are to tell apart.

Joyce’s New Three-Pitch Tunnel

                RELEASE POINT (same for all three)
                       |
                       v
                +------+------+
                |   TUNNEL    |  <-- Ball flight looks identical here
                +------+------+
                       |
      +----------------+----------------+
      |                |                |
      v                v                v
FOUR-SEAMER       SPLINKER           SLIDER
(104 mph)         (98 mph)           (86 mph)
Stays high        Drops like         Drops & cuts
                  a sinker

The magic: The splinker bridges the gap between the heater and the slider. Now hitters face three pitches from the same tunnel with three different speeds and movements.

Real-World Proof: Wyatt Langford’s Confusion

The At-Bat That Says It All

Rangers slugger Wyatt Langford — a great hitter — stepped in against Joyce recently. Here’s what happened:

1. Joyce throws splinker → looks like a strike, drops to ankles
2. Next pitch: four-seamer → same tunnel, stays up for strike three
3. Langford swings at the high one → whiff

The Lesson: Langford’s brain predicted "splinker low" based on the first pitch. When the second pitch came through the same tunnel but didn’t drop, his swing path was already committed to the wrong spot.

The Data Backs It Up

Baseball Prospectus tracks "arsenal metrics" — basically, how well pitches hide each other. Their numbers show:

• Joyce’s four-seamer harder to identify
• Joyce’s slider harder to identify
• More swings and misses than ever
• More chases (hitters swinging at balls)
• Batters looking foolish (technical term: "making bad decisions")

What This Means for the Future

The Big Picture

Joyce took his greatest strength (insane velocity) and built around it instead of fighting it. He didn’t try to become a finesse pitcher — he added a second fastball that weaponizes his first one.

Why This Could Make Him Elite

Prediction: If Joyce can just throw enough strikes (doesn’t need perfect command — just "effectively wild"), the two-fastball combo makes him nearly unhittable. We’re watching a future All-Star closer develop in real time.

Summary: The Cheat Sheet

• Ben Joyce throws 105+ mph — but that alone wasn’t enough
• He added a "splinker" (98 mph sinker/splitter hybrid) — learned from teammate José Soriano
• The splinker kills spin on purpose — creating massive drop without losing much speed
• The 6–7 mph gap between his fastballs is UNIQUE — no one else does this
• All three pitches (four-seam, splinker, slider) now "tunnel" — they look identical out of his hand
• Hitters can’t tell them apart — leading to more whiffs, chases, and confusion
• He’s still wild — but the deception might make him a dominant reliever anyway

FAQ: Your Questions Answered

What exactly is a "splinker"?

A made-up word combining splitter + sinker. It’s a pitch thrown with a split-finger-ish grip that creates sinker-like movement (drops, armside run) but at near-fastball velocity. Joyce’s version is basically a 98 mph sinker with almost no spin.

Why doesn’t everyone throw a splinker if it’s so good?

Because you need freakish arm speed to throw it 98 mph while killing the spin. Most pitchers who try this end up with a 88 mph "meh" pitch. Joyce’s 105 mph arm speed is the cheat code.

Is the splinker just a bad fastball?

No! It’s intentionally thrown with a grip that reduces force transfer. Think of it like a changeup thrown with fastball intent. The "bad" spin is actually the feature, not a bug.

Can Joyce start games with this arsenal?

Probably not. Relievers only face hitters once per game, so deception works better. Starters need 4+ pitches to navigate lineups 3+ times. Two fastballs + slider = perfect reliever profile.

Why compare him to Cristóbal Sánchez and José Soriano?

They’re the gold standard for sinkers. Sánchez has the best movement; Soriano throws a similar splinker and taught Joyce the grip. Comparing Joyce to them shows his splinker is elite company — even if he gets there differently.

Final Thought: Baseball loves specialists. Joyce found a way to be a velocity specialist and a deception specialist simultaneously. That’s rare. That’s scary. And that’s why you should watch every Angels game he pitches in.