Joel Toribio is a New York native who was drafted by  the Los Angeles Dodgers after spending a season at Western Oklahoma State College in Altus, Oklahoma.

Joel attended Murry Bergtraum High School in New York, NY, where he helped his team make the playoffs for the first time in school history by having dominant pitching performances against top schools.

Joel spent a season in the Dodgers minor league system before continuing to play baseball for the independent Windy City Thunderbolts in Illinois. He posted a 3.28 era in 2018 striking out 52 batters in 38.2 Ip for the Thunderbolts. In the 2019 season he posted a 2.98 Era and struck out 60 batters in 54.1 innings