Matt Joyce

Joyce remained a useful part-time player in his 12th season in the big leagues. He was primarily a pinch hitter for the Braves, starting just 39 games but appearing in 90 more off the bench. In 238 plate appearances, he hit .295/.408/.450, good for a 128 wRC+, the third-highest mark of his career. He certainly appears to be still able to hit, though whether or not he's a viable fantasy option in 2020 remains to be seen. He rarely faced lefties last season, coming to the plate just 26 times against them. He was never a defensive whiz, but his skills in the outfield appear to be understandably slipping as he heads into his age-35 season. That combination means he probably fits best in a platoon, preferably somewhere where he can occasionally be a designated hitter. If he gets enough at-bats, he'll likely be a viable deep-league option, but as a true bench hitter, there's not much there.

The 34-year-old posted a below-average wRC+ (89) for just the second time in the last nine years and made just 246 plate appearances while battling a back injury that sent him to the disabled list twice. Joyce managed just a .213/.324/.351 line against right-handed pitching last season and eventually lost his role as a platoon outfielder to a crop of younger Athletics. He was hampered at least in part by a .242 BABIP, but with a .276 career mark in that statistic, it's unlikely that a ton of positive regression is coming. With a career 121 wRC+ against righties, the veteran may be able to hang around a while longer as a part-time option. However, it's also possible that a cold start to the season sees him out of the league by summer.

Joyce was one of 117 players to reach the 20-homer plateau in 2017, as he took an opportunity to play regularly against righties for the A's and pile up a career-high volume of plate appearances (544) in his age-33 season. Throughout his career, Joyce has been a player better suited to sit against southpaws, and last year was no exception as he hit .186/.266/.271 against lefties compared to a .253/.346/.509 line against righties. Little appears to have changed in his profile, as his strikeout and walk rates were in line with career norms, as was his HR/FB rate. With Oakland progressing through a rebuilding phase, younger players could prevent Joyce from repeating his increased playing time volume from a year ago. He may remain useful on the large side of a platoon, however, yielding some value in deeper formats where the abundance of power bats league-wide is fully utilized.

The eighth-year MLB veteran hit .174/.272/.291 in 284 plate appearances for Anaheim before venturing to the Dominican Winter League in 2015. His hard work paid off, and Joyce rebuilt his reputation with Pittsburgh in 2016. He parlayed that success into a two-year, $11 million deal with the A's. Joyce figures to occupy the strong side of a right field platoon in Oakland. He boasts a career .252/.353/.449 slash line against righties, and last year he improved upon that career line, thanks largely to a 20.3 percent walk rate and 12 homers in just 197 at-bats against righties. His 21 pinch walks established a new major league record. If he can maintain that kind of patience, he could work his way into a spot near the top of Oakland's lineup. The fact that he won't be an everyday player and lacks standout tools makes him less appealing in standard leagues, but in deeper leagues and AL-only formats he makes for a relatively cheap, high floor option thanks to his established excellence against righties.

Joyce's power outage continued after signing a one-year deal with the Angels, as he logged a career-worst .117 ISO in 93 games. Long known as a potential threat to right-handed pitching, Joyce struggled from both sides of the plate in 2015. If the .174 average wasn't bad enough, his walk rate also took a hit, dropping to 10.6-percent after standing at 12.6-percent in 2014. Joyce missed the entire month of August due to a concussion, but did not see much playing time upon his return, logging just five at-bats in September. Determined to get his career back on track, Joyce will play winter ball in the Dominican Republic, and while he is unlikely to repeat his .215 batting average on balls in play if he is signed in 2016, it may be tough to expect a strong rebound from a 31-year-old platoon player whose power continues to trend in the wrong direction.

Joyce’s OPS declined for a fifth consecutive season in 2014, which is not ideal for a player that is now 30. Despite getting the same amount of playing time, his home run total was cut in half last season while he struck out at a career-high rate. He is never going to hit lefties, but the production against righties is declining as his salary is increasing. The one skill that has not waned is his ability to get on base as he is very good at working counts to draw a walk, but there were times in 2014 when that was his best chance at getting on base. A look at the trend in his average flyball distance is rather concerning: 274, 270, 265, 264. Joyce was traded to the Angels during the offseason, where he may end up on the larger side of a platoon in the DH spot with C.J. Cron. Perhaps a change in location can give him a spike, but he’s still going to be someone that mixed league players should only look at in the reserve rounds.

Joyce put up a very similar season to 2012 across the board. He started off with a solid April and May, hitting 10 home runs with 25 RBI over the first two months. He went cold at the plate for much of the remainder of the season and worked mostly in a platoon situation in left field and at DH against right-handed pitching. In the limited time against southpaws, he only hit .164/.190/.309 in 58 plate appearances. He provides solid power in the right matchups as he has approached 20 home runs in each of the past three seasons. The Rays opted to retain David DeJesus, another left-handed outfielder. With Wil Myers established as the everyday right fielder, Joyce will likely work in a matchup role starting primarily against right-handed pitching for the Rays in 2014.

After a breakout 2011 All-Star season, it is tough to not be a little disappointed with Joyce's production in 2012. He struggled with an oblique injury that landed him on the disabled list in July and likely bothered him longer after that. Even with that, Joyce showed ugly splits against left-handed pitching, hitting .209/.301/.330 against lefties compared to .250/.352/.458 against right-handers, costing him at-bats to Sam Fuld and Ben Francisco. He will be anchored as a regular in the Rays' outfield this season (likely moving to left field with the acquisition of Wil Myers) and is still a player in his prime.

Joyce rewarded fantasy owners who took a chance on him, finishing the season with 19 home runs and 13 stolen bases. After a strong start in April (.884 OPS) and May (1.229 OPS), he cooled off in June (.528 OPS) and July (.653) before rebounding over the last two months. The fluctuation of OPS is directly correlated with his BABIP showing that the roller coaster between Joyce being lucky and unlucky. He's more of a player who can hit for power than a speed guy but should again get a handful of swipes given the Rays' philosophy to run more than most teams. At 27, Joyce is entering his prime and if he shows improvement against left-handed pitching (.217 BA last season) he could be in line for at extra 100 plate appearances, adding to his value. The Rays have him penciled in as their everyday right fielder with Ben Zobrist likely to receive the bulk of his playing time at second base.

After coming over in the Edwin Jackson trade, the Rays had high hopes for Joyce. However, his first year with the team raised questions about his attitude and work ethic and he spent most of 2009 at Triple-A. Last season was a different story with coaches raving about his positive transformation. Unfortunately, an elbow injury cost him the first two months of the season and there wasn't a roster spot by the time he was done with his rehab. Joyce spent a short time at Triple-A before finally getting 216 at-bats with the Rays, playing mostly right field. He'll have a good shot of winning most of the time there this spring as a left-handed bat. He'll make for a nice fifth outfielder with pop (HR in every 21.6 at-bats last season) in most formats with 4-5 starts a week.

Joyce started the season in the mix for the right-field spot and ended up spending most of 2009 at Triple-A Durham. His results were stellar, as he finished with a .273 batting average, 16 home runs and 14 stolen bases. He's only 25, so there's still time for him to pay dividends from the Edwin Jackson trade. Right now, there just isn't a spot for him with the big club, so he's likely ticketed for a return to Durham.

Joyce was a bright spot on a Tigers squad that severely underperformed last year. He came up from Triple-A and posted solid power numbers to go along with a good eye at the plate. Joyce was traded to the Rays in December, where he'll get a chance to take over at least half of playing time in right field. He makes a nice speculative pick in deeper leagues as there is potential here.