Matt Joyce Career Tracker

surprising more of them don't get sick more often!
grueling schedules
no rest at times
around waaaaay too many people

And through all kinds of weather.... That probably doesn't help.

Joyce is quietly having a good finish...

7/3 - 9/5: 51 games - .289 AVG - .363 OBP - .556 SLG

I like Joyce in LF next year....c'mon Jimmyboy, do this right!!

Can Sheff and make Guillen DH, then we have room in LF for Matt!

BIG time can Sheff.

Sheff boy-r-dee in a can!

I Matt, even if he doesn't get to play LF next year. It would be totally stupid not to play him in left, but Leyland is our coach so who knows what will happen.

12/16/08 5:12 PM EST
Rays expecting big things from Joyce
Outfielder excited for chance to prove himself with hometown team

By Bill Chastain / MLB.com

ST. PETERSBURG -- A text message to Matt Joyce in Mexico last Wednesday night echoed all the way from his hometown of Tampa.

The text read: "You're coming home."

"And I was like, 'OK, you're out of Mexico,' and I didn't even get it that I had been traded," said Joyce on Tuesday afternoon at Tropicana Field.

Joyce, of course, had been dealt to the Rays by the Tigers in exchange for right-hander Edwin Jackson, which Joyce gathered from the text messages he received from his father and his agent telling him as much.

"It was cool, man -- coming home to play for your home crowd," Joyce said. "What more could you ask for?"

Rays executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has maintained since the night of the trade that the team is not certain what the immediate future holds for its newly acquired outfielder. One thing is certain -- the left-handed-hitting Joyce has a large upside if he can realize his potential. He is an above-average outfielder with a strong arm and he has some power.

Rays manager Joe Maddon liked the deal.

"To me, he's the kind of guy that I really like to work with," Maddon said. "He's very interesting -- high-end, tool-wise. [He's] just on the verge of really finding himself. It's exciting. So even if he doesn't appear on that Opening Day roster, we really believe he's going to contribute now and in the future."

While the Rays hope the trade will impact the team in 2009, they are looking to the future with Joyce, which is the only way for Tampa Bay to remain competitive in the American League East.

The Rays control the 24-year-old Joyce for six years, and he also has options, which means if he's not ready for prime time, they can send him back to the Minor Leagues this season without running the risk of another team claiming him.

Being a Tampa native, Joyce could be found at Tropicana Field watching Rays games from the beginning. And another Tampa native, Fred McGriff, was Joyce's favorite player.

"He had that little helicopter finish," Joyce said.

Joyce was a surprise for the Tigers in 2008 after an early season callup from Triple-A Toledo. He batted .252 with 16 doubles, three triples, 12 home runs and 33 RBIs over 92 games in Detroit, including the final three months. He followed with a strong winter-ball performance for Mexicali in the Mexican Winter League, batting .295 with eight home runs and 28 RBIs in 35 games.

"We've got really good reports on his work ethic, on his makeup," Friedman said, "on the intangibles that elevate his tools in terms of being a baseball player. And it's kind of the ultimate compliment for us if we're going through and looking at guys. It incorporates baserunning and defense and the attention to detail. And the smaller things we feel can impact a game. We've gotten very good reports on those things and feel like he's got a chance to be a really good player."

Joyce is well-versed on the team he is joining.

"They have all the key components you need to be successful," Joyce said. "All the great pitching, from top to bottom ... the defense. The young talent they have, they're going to be good for a lot of years, the speed, the power. Just all-around, it's a great team."

A team he's not sure he'll break camp with this spring, since the Rays are not simply giving him the job. If the season started today, Gabe Gross and Fernando Perez would likely split time in right. But Joyce isn't afraid of competition. He learned early in his professional career there are no free lunches in baseball.

"Basically, you come in and earn everything that you get," Joyce said. "I was never really expecting anything to be handed to me from the get-go. ... I was drafted in the 12th round, so I haven't been handed anything. So you earn each step along the way and you work for what you get. So [I'm going to] come in and hopefully raise a few eyebrows; show them that I can play at this level. So I'm hoping."

But in Joyce's mind, he believes in his abilities.

"Yes," said Joyce when asked if he thinks he's a Major Leaguer. "And I think you have to think that way. Not a cocky attitude, but a confidence that you can play at this level and you deserve to play at this level. If you go up there thinking, 'I don't know if I can play with these guys,' you're not going to have any success."

Bill Chastain is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Well...... I guess I can attempt to be happy for him?


But they have him for SIX YEARS!?!?

TG wrote:

Well...... I guess I can attempt to be happy for him?


But they have him for SIX YEARS!?!?

Unless he gets traded......... back to the Tigers.

I don't like that he is in this catagory...

01/23/09 7:27 PM EST
Batting Around with Matt Joyce
Rays prospect gives an inside look at life on and off the field
By Lisa Winston / MLB.com


Nothing says "hot stove season" quite as much as keeping track of players changing addresses.

Be it via free agent signings or trades or waiver claims, baseball fans everywhere keep on top of player movement, trying to predict how the shifts will affect their favorite team or fantasy league lineup.

But for the players who get traded, there are some unique issues to deal with, especially for prospects who have spent all of their career with their original team. As they say about trades, "The first time is the hardest."

Case in point: hard-hitting outfielder Matt Joyce, who was acquired by the Tampa Bay Rays from the Detroit Tigers on Dec. 11 for pitcher Edwin Jackson.

It was a trade that made sense for both sides. The Rays dealt from the luxury of starting pitching depth to pick up something they lacked, a right fielder with power potential. The Tigers added a promising young right-hander to their future rotation.

And Joyce? Well, he admits to still being a tad shell-shocked from the experience.

Selected by the Tigers in the 12th round of the 2005 First-Year Player out of Florida Southern, Joyce was something of a surprise call-up in May 2008 when Detroit summoned him from Triple-A Toledo. He hit his first big league home run on May 10 against the Yankees.

Joyce spent a month in the big leagues before heading back to the Minors but returned for good in late June when outfielder Magglio Ordonez went on the disabled list.

Between the two stops, the left-handed-hitting Joyce combined for a career-best 25 homers and drove in 74 runs.

He'd blasted 17 homers with 33 doubles and 70 RBIs at Double-A Erie in 2007 and totaled 11 homers, 30 doubles and 86 RBIs at Class A West Michigan in 2006, skipping a level following that campaign.

Joyce got to know a few of his new teammates, as well as reuniting with old ones, last weekend when the Rays sent him to participate in the annual Rookie Career Development Program. The joint venture between the Players Association and Commissioner's Office provides top prospects a crash course in issues with which they will be confronted in the big leagues such as working with the media, financial responsibility and dealing with outside pressures.

"It was a little different, a little awkward," Joyce admitted. "It was almost like seeing my old friends across the lines. I know instead of sitting in the dugout with the Tigers, I'll be seeing them across the field."

Don't get the idea he wasn't excited by the deal, however.

Joyce was born and raised in Tampa, grew up going to games at Tropicana Field with his dad, Matt, and still calls the area home, as does most of his extended family.

It was just strange.

"It's weird being traded," he said. "You want to play for the team you came up with because you get accustomed to them, you get comfortable with them. And then you get traded and you're like 'What did I do wrong?' You feel a little bit betrayed. But it's all part of the game."

MLB.com: Of what accomplishment, on or off the field, in your life are you the proudest?

MJ: The first game I played in the big leagues in front of my dad. It wasn't my first big league game, he came to Detroit to see me play against the Yankees. He'd never seen me hit a home run in the Minor Leagues, and in my first at-bat I hit a home run and he just went nuts. It was the coolest feeling in the world. I came around home and pointed up to him and said, 'That was for you, dad.' It was against, ummm, Darrell Rasner. I forgot his name! That would be terrible if you forgot who you hit your first home run off.

MLB.com: What do you think you'd be doing now if you weren't playing baseball?

MJ: I'd probably finish my degree at Florida Southern in marketing or business and go into finance. I used to work at Ameriprise and would have become a financial planner.

MLB.com: Everyone has a "hidden talent." What's yours?

MJ: I like to play a little guitar, I don't think I'm very talented though. I can't sing. I can play a little golf, but I'm pretty average across the board.

MLB.com: What is the worst job you've ever had?

MJ: I've had a couple. I've been a waiter at Mimi's Café, where, if you've been there, you know they used to wear these aprons that were candy-cane striped. I looked a little, well, I don't want to say the word ... a little different. I've been a bagger at Kash n' Karry. I've been a landscaper. I'll take the job I have right now.

MLB.com: What is your guiltiest TV pleasure?

MJ: I like watching "Heroes," though I don't know if that's too guilty. But everyone wants to be a hero in their own way. I love it.

MLB.com: What reality TV show would you kick butt on?

MJ: I always wanted to do (Nickelodeon's) "Double Dare" when I was growing up. I'm pretty sure it's not on anymore, but it always looked like fun.

MLB.com: If you could trade places with one person for a day, who would it be and why?

MJ: Probably a celebrity like Brad Pitt, just to know what he goes through every day with the fans, (and being with Angelina Jolie wouldn't hurt).

Friday, March 6, 2009
Mysterious leg injury frustrates ex-Tigers outfielder Matt Joyce
Tony Paul / The Detroit News

Former Tigers outfielder Matt Joyce was plenty happy when an offseason trade sent him to his hometown Tampa Bay Rays.

Now, he just wishes he could get on the field already.

A mysterious leg injury has severely limited Joyce's workouts and has completely prevented him from taking live batting practice for a team that thought so highly of him, they shipped young, promising, hard-throwing right-hander Edwin Jackson to Detroit to bring him to St. Petersburg.

"Every day," Joyce told the Tampa Tribune, "you get a little crazier."

Nobody knows for certain what is wrong with him. The Tribune reported he's experiencing pain in his right leg, below the calf but above the ankle. The Rays have labeled it a calf strain, because that's what an MRI exam came up with, but Joyce, 24, who's been dealing with the ailment since December, doesn't believe a muscle strain would last this long. He's also been spotted occasionally walking around camp wearing an ankle brace.

What's most frustrating (and puzzling) is he'll feel fine one day and poor the next -- the St. Petersburg Times reported he felt "90 percent" hitting in the cage and shagging fly balls Monday, but the pain came back Tuesday.

Manager Joe Maddon has said Joyce wouldn't play before this weekend's games. Joyce, meanwhile, is finished predicting his return.

"No idea," Joyce, a candidate to start in right field for the Rays along with Gabe Gross and ex-Tiger Gabe Kapler, told the Tribune. "Hopefully, it is this weekend -- hopefully the thing disappears tomorrow. I wish I could rub some healing cream on there or something and make it go away."

Joyce, a 12th-round pick by the Tigers in the 2005 draft, hit .252 with 12 homers and 33 RBIs last year, his first in the major leagues; 31 of the left-handed slugger's 61 hits went for extra bases.

You can reach Tony Paul at tpaul@detnews.com

I hope they check the surrounding bones in addition to just ligaments and muscles. Osteomyelitis can be mysterious that way too.

I feel bad for Matt! He has a shot as a starting player, and now this happens.

Poor Matt

That sucks...

March 08, 2009
Joyce to return to field

The news on OF Matt Joyce was relatively good, as executive VP Andrew Friedman said the diagnosis is tendinitis in his lower right leg and the Rays expect him to return to the field in the next few days to start doing baseball drills.

The Rays feared worse as Joyce has been sidelined all spring, though Friedman also said they will have to monitor Joyce closely to see how he responds. He will wear some type of brace, or possibly an air cast, on his right ankle.

"Right now the plan of attack is to support the ankle and to work him into playing shape,'' Friedman said. "We're cautiously optimistic that this is behind us, but in the event that it flares back up and prevents him from playing, we're going to have to explore other courses of action.''

On the extreme end, that could involve surgery, but the Rays don't seem to think it will get to that point. There is no timetable to get Joyce into a spring game, as each step of his progression will be monitored.

"I think all of us kind of feared that it may be something worse, so it was very good news,'' Friedman said. "That said, we're not out of the woods yet. Like I said, we're cautiously optimistic that we'll be able to get through it, but it's by no means a certainty. ... We're going to really monitor it and methodically get him back out on the field.''

Friedman said the Rays think the tendinitis has "been there for a long time and is just really presenting itself with symptoms.''

Joyce, who grew up in the Brandon area, was acquired in a December trade from Detroit for RHP Edwin Jackson. He came into camp with a longshot chance to win a share of the rightfield job, more likely headed to Triple-A Durham.

Posted by Marc Topkin at 12:31:49 PM on March 8, 2009

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

March 08, 2009
Joyce to return to field

The news on OF Matt Joyce was relatively good, as executive VP Andrew Friedman said the diagnosis is tendinitis in his lower right leg and the Rays expect him to return to the field in the next few days to start doing baseball drills.

The Rays feared worse as Joyce has been sidelined all spring, though Friedman also said they will have to monitor Joyce closely to see how he responds. He will wear some type of brace, or possibly an air cast, on his right ankle.

"Right now the plan of attack is to support the ankle and to work him into playing shape,'' Friedman said. "We're cautiously optimistic that this is behind us, but in the event that it flares back up and prevents him from playing, we're going to have to explore other courses of action.''

On the extreme end, that could involve surgery, but the Rays don't seem to think it will get to that point. There is no timetable to get Joyce into a spring game, as each step of his progression will be monitored.

"I think all of us kind of feared that it may be something worse, so it was very good news,'' Friedman said. "That said, we're not out of the woods yet. Like I said, we're cautiously optimistic that we'll be able to get through it, but it's by no means a certainty. ... We're going to really monitor it and methodically get him back out on the field.''

Friedman said the Rays think the tendinitis has "been there for a long time and is just really presenting itself with symptoms.''

Joyce, who grew up in the Brandon area, was acquired in a December trade from Detroit for RHP Edwin Jackson. He came into camp with a longshot chance to win a share of the rightfield job, more likely headed to Triple-A Durham.

Posted by Marc Topkin at 12:31:49 PM on March 8, 2009

GO JOYCE GO

03/18/09 4:20 PM ET
Joyce returns to field in Minors
After tendinitis, offseason acquisition plays outfield without pain

By Bill Chastain / MLB.com

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Matt Joyce is finally playing after battling tendinitis in his right leg.

Joyce was used as the designated hitter for Triple-A Durham on Tuesday, and he played right field for Class A Charlotte on Wednesday. He said his leg feels better than it has at any time since he first experienced pain in December.

"I'm running full speed and no problems," Joyce said. "So I feel like I'm ready to go."

Joyce, 24, was acquired from the Tigers in December in exchange for right-hander Edwin Jackson. But the right-field candidate had not been able to play in any Spring Training games because of the nagging injury between his ankle and the lower part of his right calf that team doctors diagnosed as tendinitis.

Joyce played three innings on Wednesday and had a hit, a walk and a groundout, and he had one chance in right field.

"Just getting your legs back into it, that's the biggest thing," Joyce said. "Running on and off the field, you'd be surprised how quick it fades -- how your body has to adjust to it."

Joyce is confident he is on the right road to recovery and noted, "The training staff did a great job."

Rays manager Joe Maddon watched Joyce play on Tuesday, when he went 0-for-2 with a walk.

"I watched him swing the bat," Maddon said. "Again, he looks good at the plate. He didn't hit the ball. But I like the way he's standing up there -- the quickness of the bat. He feels good, I liked all of that. He ran a little bit.

"We just have to get him out there moving around. We've got to get him active, moving and running as hard as he can. I want to see that -- then get him on defense with some consistency. But at the plate, this guy's going to hit."

Joyce originally went to camp with the idea he would compete for the right-field job, which now looks like it will be a platoon situation with Gabe Gross and Gabe Kapler. The Rays will break camp with five outfielders -- of which DH Pat Burrell counts as one. Carl Crawford and B.J. Upton would normally round out that five, but there is still a good chance Upton will spend the first week of the season on the disabled list. If that happens, Justin Ruggiano appears to be the front-runner to serve as his replacement, which would earmark Joyce for Durham.

Joyce won't get caught up thinking about the situation.

"Oh, I have no idea about that," Joyce said. "I think that's not for me to decide. That's for Joe and the coaching staff. I just have to go out there and play the game. I can't control that. There's really no sense worrying about it. It's just one of those outside factors that are an inhibitor.

"The more you worry about something, the more it eats at you. The harder you try. It's like a snowball effect. So just go out there play, have fun and get ready for the season. And that's it. That's all that's on the plate."

Bill Chastain is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Hooray

03/26/09 10:12 PM ET
Joyce eyes Rays' center-field job
Back from injury, outfielder looks to seize opportunity

By Anthony DiComo / MLB.com

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Tendinitis, for Matt Joyce, is hardly still a concern. His right leg has healed and his sights have shifted elsewhere -- namely to center field.

It was in center that Joyce made his return to Grapefruit League action on Thursday evening, in what was something of a test for the regular season. Given the likelihood that B.J. Upton will begin the year on the disabled list, and that recently-demoted outfielder Justin Ruggiano will start the season in the Minors, an outfield job for the Rays is now up for grabs.

With a healthy right leg, Joyce has a chance to grab it.

"Realistically, he still has time," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "We have to test him a little bit here, and have him play and get some at-bats."

There's no ignoring that the four weeks Joyce missed with tendinitis in his right leg have hurt his chances to make the club. But circumstances have begun to work in his favor. The Rays have all but guaranteed that Upton will miss Opening Day following surgery to repair the labrum tear in his left shoulder. And though they have said that Ruggiano may be recalled to start in Upton's place, they've also left their options open.

Maddon, for one, wants to see Joyce field. He's never seen him do so in a game, other than a few stray innings last year when Joyce played for the Tigers. Maddon has heard the stories about his arm -- it's a good one -- and saw him play in bits and pieces earlier this spring.

But big league games are different, and if Joyce wants to be playing in them when camp breaks, he'll need to excel in the games he's playing now.

"I know what our reports say from last year defensively," Maddon said. "We've got to see him out there. We want to try him in different spots. We know how we feel about his arm. So all these things are there, and we just want to get him indoctrinated into our style of play."

Joyce didn't play an inning in center field with the Tigers last season, starting there roughly a half dozen times in Triple-A. But he had plenty of chances Thursday, chasing several balls hit into the left-center-field gap.

It was merely a glimpse into his defensive capabilities, but still more than the Rays have seen to date .

Joyce also singled home a run in the fifth inning, and walked on seven pitches in the first. All in all, a rather productive night.

"I wasn't really planning on getting my first hit of Spring Training this late," Joyce joked.

"I've really enjoyed his at-bats," Maddon said. "I think he's got a special swing."

And Joyce didn't do so badly with the Rays' style of play, either, swiping second base after his single in the fifth.

"You have to grow into it, I guess, be around it and really buy into it," Joyce said. "Once you're around it enough, I think you get acclimated with it and you become part of the Rays' way. You learn how to play it their way."

From here, it's a matter of consistency. With Ruggiano in Minor League camp, Joyce should receive plenty of playing time over the next week and a half. If he can convince the Rays that he's ready to stick with the big club, he'll do so.

And considering his bat -- Joyce hit 12 home runs in half a season with the Tigers last season, and has shown rare plate discipline for a 24-year-old -- that would be an ideal solution.

It's not, however, the only solution. The Rays are still holding out some hope that Upton will be ready for Opening Day, and still have the option of promoting Ruggiano if Upton is not. In either case, Joyce would likely break camp in Triple-A -- perhaps not what the Rays anticipated when they dealt Edwin Jackson to the Tigers for him this winter, but not all that unexpected for a player who missed 80 percent of the Grapefruit League schedule due to injury.

Those decisions will come in time. Joyce, on Thursday, was simply happy to be playing.

"It's cool to know he has that confidence to stick me out there," Joyce said of Maddon's decision to put him in center. "It was fun."

Anthony DiComo is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Another trade that may bite the Tigers in the ass



Should have kept Joyce

04/01/09 5:06 PM ET
Joyce makes Opening Day roster
Decision on fifth starter likely to go down to wire on Sunday

By Bill Chastain / MLB.com

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Matt Joyce will be on the Opening Day roster, and the fifth starter decision between Jason Hammel and Jeff Niemann will likely go down to Sunday, when the 25-man roster must be set by 3 p.m. ET.

Joyce, 24, was acquired from the Tigers in December in exchange for right-hander Edwin Jackson, but he could not play in any games until late in Spring Training due to tendinitis in his lower right leg.

Once healthy, Joyce showed the ability that enticed the Rays to trade for him, displaying a sweet left-handed swing and grace fielding his position in the outfield. He doubled in three trips to the plate Wednesday to move his spring average to .292, with a home run and five RBIs.

"Right now, it's definitely satisfying," said Joyce, who was told he had made the team by manager Joe Maddon shortly after the Rays' 2-1 win over the Twins. "It's a great feeling to be able to break camp with these guys and to come back from what's happened."

Joyce said there was a point in camp when he figured he was too far behind to earn a spot.

"I thought I probably ruined my chance," Joyce said. "Unfortunately, a couple of guys got hurt. And probably if that didn't happen, I wouldn't have had the opportunity. And I don't wish that on anybody."

Fernando Perez dislocated his left wrist while diving for a ball early in camp while B.J. Upton is being held back the first week of the season, while recovering from offseason surgery to his left shoulder. Upton is expected to be in the lineup by the team's home opener April 13 against the Yankees.

Joyce understands he'll probably be the player sent to Triple-A Durham when Upton returns.

"They told me, 'It could be for a short stay, it could be for a long stay, take it for what it's worth,'" Joyce said. "And then I get to at least break camp with them. I get to play in Boston for now. [When] B.J. comes back, we'll see how it goes, see how everything works out, and then go from there."

Joyce will be experiencing his first Opening Day in the Major Leagues on Monday and likely will be the starting center fielder with Boston right-hander Josh Beckett on the mound.

"This is special, this is cool," Joyce said. "I can't explain it to you, man, this is awesome. I walked out of [Maddon's] office and I'm just smiling, trying to hold it in."

Maddon complimented Joyce for his work ethic during the spring.

"That's how this game works," Maddon said. "You think nothing can happen or you're out of the picture. Or everything's going the wrong direction. Then, with the blink of an eye, everything changes. And with him, it's the same way. He's in this situation now. He's earned it. We didn't just give this to him. He's been working hard, and as a coaching staff, we've been very verbal with him and very instructive with him, and he's done a nice job, to his credit. And I'm very proud of him."

... continued with other player news

YAY MATT!

Update:

Joyce is hitting .100 in 3 games for the Rays, but he has 1 HR and 1 RBI...

Joyce back in bigs, makes start Sunday
Rays' outfielder gets starting nod as Maddon rests Upton

By Zach Schonbrun / MLB.com

05/31/09 5:57 PM ET

ST. PETERSBURG -- Joe Maddon received a text message early Sunday morning from the Rays' Triple-A manager Charlie Montoyo.

Though the transaction had already been made, and the young outfield prospect Matt Joyce had already arrived in Florida, the message confirmed what Madden had been thinking: Joyce, the 24-year-old acquired from Detroit in the offseason, was ready to jump back up to the Major Leagues.

"He's been doing really well," Maddon said. "Offensively speaking, his at-bats have been very good. He's been showing us power. I've heard his baserunning has gotten a lot better. We're very pleased with his progress."

Joyce's reunion to his hometown, where he said he'd seen countless Rays game as a kid growing up, hit a serendipitous note when he crushed a solo home run to right field in the fifth inning. He's hit home runs in the big leagues before -- this wasn't even his first homer as a member of the Rays. But there was a special feeling running through his gut as he rounded the bases on Sunday.
"Being at home ... it's just a good feeling," Joyce said. "Running around the bases, you're just on cloud nine. You don't even feel your feet hit the ground. It's a really cool feeling."

Joyce added a single in the sixth to finish the afternoon 2-for-3 in the Rays' 3-2 loss to Minnesota. As for the home run ball, it may soon be on some mantle, but not his.

"I signed it and gave it to the fan that caught it," Joyce said.

Joyce got the call to the big leagues while he was taking out the garbage at his apartment in Durham, N.C., on Saturday afternoon, and had only a few hours to gather his things for a 4:30 p.m. ET flight to Florida.

Not that he's complaining. Joyce has been eagerly anticipating his opportunity to return to the Majors, after playing in 92 games last season for the Tigers.

"You always get a little nerves when you come up," Joyce said. "That's part of the process, coming up to the big leagues. I'm not as nervous as I was the first time I got called up, but I'm definitely excited to be here."

Joyce was acquired by Tampa Bay in December in a deal for right-handed pitcher Edwin Jackson after he hit .252 with 12 home runs and 33 RBIs with Detroit in 2008. The Tigers' 12th-round pick in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft, he ascended quickly through the Minor Leagues and was named the 13th-best prospect in the International League last year by Baseball America.

After Spring Training, Joyce was sent down to Triple-A Durham, where Maddon said he got the opportunity to "polish up" his tools. He was batting a team-leading .315 with five home runs, 27 RBIs and six stolen bases with the Bulls.

"The main thing was just trying to work on whatever I had to do to get back here," Joyce said. "Stealing bases, learning how to steal, when to steal, working on the jumps, working on positioning, your stance -- just little things like that. As far as hitting, just letting the ball travel a little more to try to see the offspeed stuff, and it helped. I stayed the other way and hit the fastball the other way. It's not perfected and it's an ongoing process, but it helped out a lot."

Joyce made his first start in center field on Sunday for the Rays while batting sixth, with B.J. Upton given a day off. Maddon said the positioning in the outfield will require a quick adjustment from the rookie Joyce, especially under the dome at Tropicana Field, where judging fly balls isn't always routine.

"I'm not totally comfortable with that," Maddon said. "Anytime an outfielder comes into this building, it's not the best. But he's been out in the outfield before, so we'll see how he does."

To make room for Joyce, reliever Dale Thayer was optioned back down to Durham on Saturday. Thayer had a 5.06 ERA with one save in three appearances with the Rays.

Maddon said not to make too much of Upton's day off on Sunday -- he will be back leading off for the Rays on Tuesday. Upton's batting .200 with nine RBIs this season. Bringing Joyce up was simply to add another bat to the bench.

"We talked about getting him involved in all the outfield positions [with Durham]," Maddon said. "Just getting him at-bats. We tried to get him to become a more aggressive baserunner, and apparently that's happening also."

Zach Schonbrun is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Hmmm.

Upton is .200 with just nine RBI.

But Joyce has waaaay less games, 2 HR, and 2 RBI.

I'm lost? I realize Upton is a good player, but if he's not producing, then play someone who is.

*cough* Joyce.