Angels’ Skaggs dies
» Pitcher Tyler Skaggs, 27, is found dead in his hotel room.
ARLINGTON — The Los Angeles Angels announced Monday that pitcher Tyler Skaggs died. The team was scheduled to begin a series against the Texas Rangers in Arlington, but the game has been canceled.
The Southlake police department released the following statement: “[Monday] at 2:18 p.m. CDT the Southlake Police Department responded to a call of an unconscious male in a room in the Hilton hotel at 1400 Plaza Place. Officers arrived and found the male unresponsive, and he was pronounced deceased at the scene.”
The statement went on to say that no foul play is suspected and an investigation is ongoing. A Southlake police spokesman said suicide “is not suspected.”
“It is with great sorrow that we report Tyler Skaggs passed away earlier today in Texas,” the Angels said in a statement.
“Tyler has, and always will be, an important part of the Angels Family. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Carli and his entire family during this devastating time.
“There are no other details at this time, please keep Tyler’s family in your thoughts and prayers.”
The Angels’ clubhouse did not open Monday and the entire Angels team and traveling party left Globe Life Park for the hotel upon being informed of Skaggs’ death. Angels star outfielder Mike Trout, who was drafted by the team the same year as Skaggs, tweeted this message Monday evening: “Words cannot express the deep sadness we feel right now. Our thoughts and prayers are with Carli and their families. Remembering (Tyler) as a great teammate, friend, and person who will forever remain in our hearts. … we love you, (number) 45.”
The Rangers had already begun a news conference, and manager Chris Woodward said: “There were a lot of pretty emotional guys in our clubhouse. Some guys knew him. Guys were physically shaken. This isn’t something we deal with on a daily basis. It’s heartbreaking. You can tell our guys were pretty upset.”
Skaggs, 27, had been one of the Angels’ most reliable pitchers this season, going 7-7 with an ERA of 4.29 in 792⁄3 innings. He was 28-38 with a 4.41 ERA in seven major league seasons.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred issued the following statement: “I am deeply saddened by today’s tragedy in Texas. All of us at Major League Baseball extend our deepest condolences to Tyler’s wife, Carli, their family, their friends and all of his Angels’ teammates and colleagues. 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.”
Tributes poured out on Twitter after the news broke, including from Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer: “We came up together. We won together. We laughed and celebrated together. Today, we all lose and mourn together. Your memory, your love for life, everything that made you, you, will live forever in the hearts and minds of those who knew you. Rest In Peace brother. We laove you.”
Skaggs attended Santa Monica High School, where his mother, Debbie, is a physical education instructor and was the softball coach. Santa Monica Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Ben Drati issued a statement: “We are devastated to hear the news that Tyler Skaggs has passed away. … Tyler attended Roosevelt Elementary School, Lincoln Middle School and was a 2009 graduate of Samohi, all in the Santa Monica-Malibu unified district.
“Tyler continued to make visits to our schools the past several years to speak with students and we proudly watched his ascent in professional baseball, along with his family.”
Skaggs was a first-round draft pick of the Angels in 2009, taken with the 40th overall pick after Trout was taken with the 25th pick. He was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2010 along with Joe Saunders, Patrick Corbin and Rafael Rodriguez for Dan Haren and made his major league debut in 2012. Skaggs was traded back to the Angels after the 2013 season along with Adam Eaton for Mark Trumbo.
“It’s one of those moments where you’re just kind of numb to life,” Woodward said. “I personally heard tremendous things about him, and everybody spoke very highly of him. It’s just a sad situation. Our hearts go out to him. We’re thinking about his family, his wife, everybody who knew him. It gives you perspective of how fragile life is.
“He was an intriguing guy. Really good stuff. And everyone spoke very highly of him from a character standpoint. He was a guy who was tough to root against. Hard to be mad at a guy knowing he was so well liked among his coaches and players. It’s awful to think he’s not going to be around anymore.”
Skaggs is the first Angels player to die in-season since Nick Adenhart was killed by a drunken driver 10 years ago. The 22-year-old rookie righthander was coming off his first start of the 2009 season, his fourth career game in the big leagues.
Jose Fernandez, a two-time AllStar pitcher for the Miami Marlins, was killed in boating crash near Miami Beach, Florida, in September 2016.
Pitcher Darryl Kile, who played in the majors for 12 seasons (19922002) was on the road with the St. Louis Cardinals when he died in June 2002 in his Chicago hotel room. Albert Pujols, now a member of the Angels, was Kile's teammate then.