Not many knew of Matt Joyce before this season, and if they did know him, they knew of him as a platoon partner outfielder and not an All-Star type talent. The timing for a breakout season from Joyce could not have been better, as losing Carl Crawford left a big hole in the outfield that needed to be at least somewhat filled.
Joyce is currently leading the Major Leagues in batting average. That’s nice, but that really is not his game. He has been a bit fortunate with balls in play, so expect the average to drop a bit going forward. He has made better contact this season, which can be seen in his improved line drive rate, so the average will not plumet as quickly as the Indians.
His game is power and patience. The walks are down from a year ago, along with the strikeouts, but the power has stayed very respectable (.262 ISO compared to .248 for his career). As previously mentioned, Joyce’s bread and butter is against right-handed pitching. His current slash line against righties is .377/.429/.642 and his career slash line vs. opposite handed pitching is .285/.372/.547. He feasts on right-handed pitching, which will lead to a long lasting career even if he never fully figures out the southpaws.
Speaking of which, his performance against lefties has vastly improved as well, although he only has 40 plate appearances against them. In those 40 times at the dish, Joyce has hit .222/.300/.472, which is certainly not terrible. Going against him is a .208 BABIP which is likely to improve, so it is possible that he ends up with near league average numbers against left-handers. This means I doubt you see marks vs. LHP similar to the .184/.280/.333 that he has for his career.
There will be hot and cold stretches throughout the season, but it appears as if cutting down on the walks and strikeouts has actually helped Joyce with the bat. Usually, when one loses both they hit into weak contact more frequently, but it is possible that Joyce was being too patient at the plate. It seems that he now is able to put good wood on the ball with regularity, which has me certain that he is for real.
