“I’m definitely feeling better, and the headaches have subsided. I’m not really dealing with any dizziness or anything like that.” That was Matt Joyce speaking on August 17, 2017, after he resumed physical activity. Following the injury he had sustained two years earlier, he finally returned to the stationary bike and began doing “core-activation stuff,” but he still had a long road to recovery ahead of him.

Matthew Joyce entered the 2015 season with high hopes, as it was supposed to be the year when everything came together for him. Instead, it marked the most tumultuous stretch of his career, ranging from a career-altering injury to a decline at the plate. More than a decade later, the former MLB player has opened up about the season that changed his life, just not in the way he imagined.

“2015 was supposed to be the year that changed my life. Instead, it almost ended my career,” Joyce wrote on his X handle. “I was 30 years old and entering my free-agent season. The year where you perform, sign the big multi-year contract, and set your family up for life.”

After spending the previous six seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays, the then-31-year-old was entering a crucial stage of his professional career. He was already an All-Star and an established left-handed hitter.

The Rays traded him to the Los Angeles Angels in the 2014 offseason in exchange for Kevin Jepsen. The move brought fresh opportunities for Joyce to prove himself. He subsequently signed a one-year, $4.75 million contract to avoid arbitration.

Free agency was approaching for Joyce, and the stakes were high.

Joyce recalled pushing himself hard in the offseason, including two workouts per day, adding ten pounds of muscle mass, and taking up extra batting practice. He left no stone unturned in preparing for the season. His performance during Spring Training validated that even more. He batted .326 with 2 home runs and 4 RBIs over 18 Spring Training games, but all of this became futile once the regular season started.

“Then the season started, and I just couldn’t get it going. For months, I couldn’t break away from the .200 mark. The harder I tried to fix it, the worse it got. Looking back, I was trying to do way too much,” Joyce continued on his X handle.

Joyce entered 2015 after slashing .254/.349/.383 in the previous season, but his production declined dramatically with the Angels. Across 93 games, he batted .174 and hit 5 home runs in 284 plate appearances.

Joyce was hitting cleanup at the start of the season, but by June, he was hitting ninth for the Angels as he continued to search for answers at the plate. The deeper he went into the slump, the more pressure he put on himself.

“I wasn’t just trying to have a good at-bat anymore. I was trying to hit home runs. Trying to put up numbers. Trying to earn the contract. Every at-bat started carrying the weight of my future,” he wrote.

Forcing himself did not get the season back on track, and then came the disastrous injury.

On July 26, 2015, Joyce collided with shortstop Erick Aybar while attempting to catch a shallow fly ball. He recalled that David Freese was also chasing it, but stopped in time. Joyce was knocked unconscious after Aybar’s leg struck his chin. He ended up with a concussion and admitted that he was too dizzy to remember where his locker was inside the clubhouse. The injury made the bad season worse.

Joyce was already slumping, going 0-for-23 before the collision. The injury only worsened his confidence as the Angels acquired left-handed outfielders David Murphy and David DeJesus. Joyce was worried that his career in Anaheim was over.

“With what happened, and them acquiring some very talented outfielders, there was definitely some question about what was going to happen,” he said in September 2015.

After a month on the IL, Joyce began rehab at Triple-A Salt Lake before returning to the Angels in September.

A bad season and a scary injury did not end Joyce’s career. It gave him a lesson on life:

“It taught me that the more obsessed you become with the outcome, the easier it is to lose sight of the process that gave you joy in the first place,” Joyce wrote.

After 2015, he played six more seasons before retiring in 2021. Joyce wrapped up his career slashing .242/.342/.425 with 149 homers and a .767 OPS in 1,400 games.

Career-altering injuries are not uncommon in MLB, but Joyce was fortunate to return to the game. The same cannot be said for others.

Corey Koskie and the concussion that ended his career

On July 5, 2006, Corey Koskie was playing third base for the Minnesota Twins against the Cincinnati Reds. He chased a pop-up and made the catch before falling backward and striking his head on the turf.

“I just look at the film today … and I think, how could I have gotten hurt from that one?” Koskie said on CBS Sports.

Yes, the play looked relatively harmless, but the consequences were dire. He initially remained in the game but soon realized that doing basic on-field tasks was a struggle. Koskie was diagnosed with a non-contact concussion. He was placed on the injured list, and what followed were months of brutal post-concussion syndrome. He suffered from dizziness, blurred vision, nausea, severe fatigue, headaches, depth-perception issues, and as such.

The next two seasons went into recovery. Koskie attempted a comeback with the Chicago Cubs in 2009, but he felt light-headed while diving for a ball. As he did not want to risk his long-term health, Koskie retired on March 21, 2009.

After his career ended due to a concussion, Koskie hopes that everyone knows all concussions are severe and no two are the same.