Angels mourn Skaggs after pitcher, 27, dies
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Tyler Skaggs grew up rooting for the Los Angeles Angels and got to pitch for his favorite team.
The left-hander’s next start for the Angels was supposed to be on the Fourth of July holiday, during a weeklong trip to Texas that began with Skaggs and his teammates proudly posing in cowboy hats and Western attire by their plane.
Skaggs died on Monday, when the 27-year-old pitcher was found unresponsive in his Texas hotel room. The scheduled series opener against the Rangers was postponed.
“Words cannot express the deep sadness we feel right now. Our thoughts and prayers are with (wife) Carli and their families. Remembering him as a great teammate, friend, and person who will forever remain in our hearts... we love you, 45,” All-Star center fielder Mike Trout wrote on Twitter.
Angels general manager Billy Eppler described himself as being “in utter shock and disbelief.”
The team, in a statement, called Skaggs “an important part of the Angels Family” and said its thoughts and prayers were with his wife and entire family “during this devastating time.”
Police in Southlake, Texas, said they were investigating but no foul play was suspected. Skaggs was pronounced dead at the scene after police responded to a call at the hotel on Monday afternoon.
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said he was “deeply saddened” by Skaggs’ death.
“We will support the Angels’ organization through this most difficult period, and we will make a variety of resources available to Tyler’s teammates and other members of the baseball family,” Manfred said in a statement.
With the team out of town, dozens of fans went to Angel Stadium and gathered out front in the hours after Skaggs’ death was announced. They left flowers, hats, baseballs, signs, photos and other memorabilia in a makeshift memorial mound.
Sadly, the poignant display strongly resembled the fan-created memorial for Nick Adenhart in 2009 after the rookie pitcher was killed by a drunk driver. That tribute stayed out front of the Big A through the summer.
Skaggs, who got married last December and would have turned 28 on July 13, had been a regular in the Angels’ starting rotation since late 2016, when he returned from Tommy John surgery. He struggled with injuries repeatedly in that time but was 7-7 with a 4.29 ERA in 15 starts this season for an injury-plagued rotation.
In his cowboy-themed Instagram post on Sunday, Skaggs captioned the team photo with “Howdy y’all.” The Angels go to Houston this weekend after their series against the Rangers.
“Some guys that didn’t even know him were visibly shaken,” Texas manager Chris Woodward said, describing the team meeting when his players were told about Skaggs as “one of those moments where you’re just kind of numb.”
Skaggs was in the same draft class with Trout in 2009, the year the 22-year-old Adenhart was killed. Adenhart was coming off his first start that season, his fourth big league game.
Jose Fernandez, a two-time All-Star pitcher for the Miami Marlins, was killed in a boating crash near Miami Beach, Florida, in September 2016. He was 24.
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