Matthew Ryan Joyce (born August 3, 1984) is an American former professional baseball outfielder, who played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Between 2008 and 2021, he played for eight MLB teams, most notably the Tampa Bay Rays, with whom he was named an MLB All-Star in 2011.
Raised by a single father in Tampa, Florida, Joyce frequently attended Rays games at Tropicana Field as a child. The Detroit Tigers attended an exhibition game that Joyce played with Florida Southern College and selected him in the 12th round of the 2005 MLB draft. Joyce debuted with the Tigers in 2008 and was traded to the Rays the following season. After five years in St. Petersburg, Florida, Joyce was traded to the Los Angeles Angels, where his performance suffered after a 2015 concussion.
After stints with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Oakland Athletics, and Atlanta Braves, as well as minor-league appearances for the Cleveland Indians and San Francisco Giants, Joyce signed a one-year deal with the Miami Marlins in 2020. There, he helped Miami reach their first Major League Baseball postseason appearance since 2003. Joyce retired from professional baseball after a stint with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2021, becoming a sports analyst for the Rays.
Early life Matthew Ryan Joyce was born in Tampa, Florida to Matthew Ryan Joyce Sr. and Vallie Klein. When Matt Jr. and his sister Danielle were youngsters, their mother, Vallie, who was dealing with substance abuse problems, left the children's father and took the rest of the family to New Jersey. Matt Sr. obtained a court order to reclaim his children, and raised Matt and Danielle as a single father, with the help of Vallie's mother, Patricia Klein. Joyce's father encouraged his son to learn baseball, helping with backyard batting practice and giving his son the nickname "Slugger" at the age of 10.
A childhood fan of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB), Joyce frequently attended home games at Tropicana Field. His favorite Ray was Fred McGriff, while his overall favorite baseball player was Ken Griffey Jr. Joyce's baseball career began with the North Brandon Little League in Brandon, Florida. He went on to attend Armwood High School in Seffner, Florida, where he described his athletic performance as not "too ridiculous as far as being that far above everybody." Joyce was the second Armwood baseball player to play in MLB, following left-handed pitcher Sterling Hitchcock, and Armwood retired his No. 24 jersey in February 2009.
College career Although Joyce received offers to play college baseball for the University of Tampa and the University of South Florida, he chose to attend Florida Southern College, who offered him an opportunity to begin playing as a freshman. As a sophomore in 2005, Joyce earned All-Sunshine State Conference honors and helped lead Florida Southern to their ninth NCAA Division II title.
The Detroit Tigers took notice of Joyce when they played an exhibition game against Florida Southern during spring training in 2005. That year, the Tigers selected Joyce in the 12th round of the 2005 MLB draft, and he signed with the team shortly afterwards. In three seasons with Florida Southern, Joyce hit 22 home runs and had 121 runs batted in (RBIs) in 170 games. Statistically, his best season was as a freshman in 2003, when he batted .329 with eight home runs, 44 RBIs, and 13 stolen bases. Florida Southern retired Joyce's No. 24 jersey in January 2018.
Minor league career
After being drafted in the 12th round of the 2005 MLB draft by the Detroit Tigers, Joyce spent the 2005 season with the Class A Short Season Oneonta Tigers of the New York–Penn League. There, he lived at a dormitory at Hartwick College, in the same hall as Burke Badenhop and Will Rhymes, all of whom would remain teammates as they moved through the Tigers' farm system. He played 65 games with Oneonta that season, batting .332 and recording four home runs and 46 RBIs in 247 at bats.
The following year, Joyce was promoted to the Class A West Michigan Whitecaps. He struggled in the jump to Class A; by mid-May, his batting average had fallen under .200, and he had suffered an injury to his quadriceps. Manager Matt Walbeck told Joyce to focus on changing his mindset as he approached the plate rather than working on his physical ability, and Joyce credits this mental approach to his improvement over the course of the season. He finished 2006 with a .258 average and 11 home runs, and led the team with 86 RBIs. The Whitecaps went on to win the Midwest League championship. In 2013, fans voted Joyce onto the Whitecaps All-Time Team, and in 2019, he was inducted into the Whitecaps Hall of Fame.
Joyce was promoted to the Double A Erie SeaWolves in 2007, and once again suffered an early-season slump. By May 19, his batting average had sunk to .168. He had recovered by the end of the season, finishing with a .257 average, 17 home runs, and 70 RBIs in 456 at bats and 130 games. Joyce, along with fellow outfielder Clete Thomas, was considered a likely future major leaguer. Commenting on the two, Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski remarked that, "We think they're both prospects... We're not counting on them for this year, but they've got a chance to play at the Triple-A level (this season), depending on how they do this spring."
Major league career Detroit Tigers (2008) Joyce began the 2008 season with the Triple A Toledo Mud Hens, with whom he hit .299 with five home runs and 21 RBIs in the team's first 28 games. After outfielder Jacque Jones was designated for assignment in early May, Joyce was called up to the Tigers in his stead. He made his major league debut on May 5, 2008, starting in right field for a 6–3 loss to the Boston Red Sox. His first major league home run followed shortly after, in a 5–2 loss to the New York Yankees on May 10. Joyce told reporters that he initially did not think he had hit a home run, as he saw Yankees outfielder Bobby Abreu running for the ball, but "[t]hen I heard the crowd start cheering, so I knew it had gone out."
After a strong first impression, Joyce began to struggle with hitting against curveballs and changeups. Joyce believed that he was putting too much effort into impressing the major league coaches. He was optioned back to Toledo at the end of May to make room for outfielder Marcus Thames. He returned to the Tigers on June 29 when Magglio Ordóñez was placed on the disabled list with a pulled oblique, remaining in the lineup even after Ordóñez returned. Joyce was named the American League (AL) Player of the Week on July 19. He was the first rookie position player for the Tigers to win the award since Tony Clark in 1996. In his rookie season, Joyce batted .252 in 92 games with the Tigers and .270 in 56 games with the Mud Hens.
During the offseason, Joyce played for the Águilas de Mexicali of the Mexican Pacific League. He batted .295 in 35 games with Mexicali, striking out less against curveballs.
Tampa Bay Rays (2009–2014) On December 10, 2008, the Tigers traded Joyce to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for pitcher Edwin Jackson. Although Joyce missed time in spring training due to tendinitis in his leg, he was named to the Rays' Opening Day roster after B. J. Upton sustained a shoulder injury. On April 9, Joyce hit his first major league home run, a solo shot off of Daisuke Matsuzaka in the second inning of a 4–3 victory over the Boston Red Sox. When Upton returned from the disabled list on April 13, Joyce was optioned to the Triple-A Durham Bulls. Joyce played only three games with the Rays in his first major-league call-up, and his only hit in 10 at bats was the home run against Matsuzaka. In the minor leagues, Joyce helped the Bulls capture the Triple-A National Championship in a 5–4 victory over the Memphis Redbirds. He batted .273 in Triple-A, with 16 home runs and 66 RBIs in 111 games.
Joyce missed the first half of the Ray's 2010 season after injuring his elbow during spring training. He returned to the team on June 25, and the Rays optioned catcher Dioner Navarro to make room in the lineup. In his first game upon returning, Edwin Jackson, for whom Joyce had been traded, pitched a no-hitter against the Rays. Later that season, on July 27, Joyce hit a grand slam in the sixth inning of Matt Garza's no-hitter against the Tigers. His home run was also the first hit of the game, against Detroit starting pitcher Max Scherzer. It was the second grand slam of his career, following an eighth-inning blast against the Minnesota Twins on July 3. He batted .241 for the season, with 10 runs and 40 RBIs in 216 at bats. Joyce also appeared in the 2010 American League Division Series (ALDS), against the Texas Rangers. His pop fly in Game 4 allowed Carlos Peña to score, brought the Rays back from a 2–1 series deficit, and forced a deciding Game 5. The Rangers went on to take the series, breaking a 39-year postseason drought. In nine postseason at bats, Joyce hit .222, with two hits and one stolen base.
After a lukewarm spring training performance, Joyce found his stride in 2011, leading the league with a .370 batting average by June 1. He received his first All-Star Game selection that season, alongside fellow Rays James Shields and David Price. He cooled a bit after the All-Star break, finishing the season with a .277 average, 19 home runs, and 75 RBIs. The Rays spent the final part of a season deadlocked with the Red Sox in the Wild Card race. On the final day of the regular season, a three-run home run from Joyce helped the Rays clinch a Wild Card berth, leading to a series against the Yankees. The Rays once again lost to the Rangers at the 2011 ALDS in a 3–1 series. Joyce appeared in all four games, where he batted .200 and scored one home run and four RBIs. Rays manager Andrew Friedman quickly signed Joyce to a one-year, $499,500 contract over the offseason.
Joyce hit his third career grand slam on May 19, 2012, in the third inning of a 5–2 game against the Atlanta Braves. In June, Joyce was placed on the 15-day disabled list with an oblique strain, with recent acquisition Ben Zobrist taking his place in the outfield. Joyce's injury, combined with an extended absence from Evan Longoria, caused a downturn in the Rays' season. By the time that Joyce returned, the Rays had lost 19 of their last 30 contests and had sacrificed their lead in the AL East to the Yankees. Joyce missed 23 games before returning on July 17, and Rhymes was optioned to Durham to make room on the roster. Joyce batted .241 for the season, with 17 home runs and 59 RBIs in 124 games.
The Rays avoided arbitration with Joyce going into the 2013 season, agreeing to a one-year, $2.45 million contract. In the second game of the season, Joyce recorded his first walk-off home run against Tommy Hunter of the Baltimore Orioles, winning the game 8–7. The following month, he hit a two-RBI double in the ninth inning of a game against the same team, helping the Rays win 10–6, and breaking the Orioles' 109-game winning streak when leading after seven innings. Overall, Friedman described Joyce's 2013 performance as "up-and-down ... where there were a couple hot months and a couple months where he struggled more." He hit .235 with 18 home runs and 47 RBIs in 481 plate appearances. Going into the 2013 ALDS against the Red Sox, Joyce was in an offensive slump, hitting .089 in the final 21 games of the regular season. Joyce continued his slump into the playoffs, going 0 for 8 in the four-game series.