The Curious Case of Matt Joyce

Just who is this Matt Joyce character that seems to be finding his way onto multiple DMBL rosters?

Joyce, a DMBL rookie, was drafted in the 8th round of the 2009 draft by New Jersey (109th overall). Joyce didn't even make it to opening day. The Buddahs cut Joyce on March 13th, just before the season officially started. A few weeks later, Philadelphia traded away star outfielder Magglio Ordonez, leaving a void in their outfield. The Endzone Animals took a chance on the young Joyce, hoping he might compete with newly-acquired Fred Lewis for the spot. Well, he lost. Joyce only got into 4 games, getting one hit in five at bats with two strikeouts. Not that Lewis was doing any better at that point. Lewis was only hitting a mere .140 at the time, but the club liked his potential better, so Joyce was cut a week after getting signed. The move panned out for Philly too - Lewis is batting .343/.409/.485 since being acquired from Carolina.

Two days later, Joyce was claimed by the powerhouse Sugar Bears. The Sugar Bears have a long legacy of turning no-names like Jack Cust, Mark DeRosa, and Frank Menechino into stars. Surely Matt Joyce would finally turn his season around. Well, no, it just wasn't happening in Newark. The club couldn't find a role for Joyce and he only saw one at bat in 6 games before being released less than a week later.

It took 9 days for Joyce to latch onto his 4th team of the season. The Hoboken Cutters were hit with a pair of injuries that took out a couple of their starting outfielders. First Marlon Byrd, then Ryan Church landed on the DL. Joyce was passed over for Josh Willingham, but the Cutters decided to give him a chance after the second injury. All this time, Joyce just wanted a real chance to show what he could do. Sure enough, the Cutters put Joyce into the starting lineup and he's gotten 21 at bats so far with Hoboken. Unfortunately for Joyce, he's hitting a paltry .143 with a .280 on base percentage and .190 slugging. Church and Byrd are due back in about a week. The good news is that Joyce, as bad as he's been, is barely outhitting Willingham, so he may buy himself an extra day or two. The bad news is that he'll probably be let loose as soon as both outfielders are healthy.

Will he latch onto a 5th team? Stay tuned...