D-Backs pay tribute to late lefty Skaggs
LOS ANGELES – Mike Butcher remembers being at a pre-draft workout a decade ago, a day when a young lefthanded pitcher from Santa Monica, Calif., named Tyler Skaggs threw off a mound in front of Los Angeles Angels coaches and scouts.
Butcher, the Diamondbacks pitching coach who back then held the same position with the Angels, saw Skaggs’ smooth, athletic delivery and his fourpitch mix, and it prompted a question to the Angels’ scouting director at the time.
“I looked at Eddie Bane,” Butcher recalled, “and said, ‘Can you tell me if there’s another 17-year-old as good as this kid in the country? If there is, I’d like to see it.’ ”
A day after Skaggs was found dead in a hotel room in Texas at the age of 27, Butcher was among those around the game trying to make sense of what happened. Speaking with reporters in the visitors’ dugout at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday, Butcher told stories of his time with Skaggs. At one point, he stopped for a full 30 seconds to compose himself in the middle of a memory.
Skaggs held a prominent place in recent Diamondbacks history. Weeks after impressing Butcher and others at that workout, the Angels drafted Skaggs with one of their supplemental firstround picks.
When Skaggs’ name was called at No. 40 overall, the Diamondbacks’ draft room groaned. They had the 41st pick. Their scouts had loved Skaggs, too. The Angels had picked their pocket.
A year later, the Diamondbacks landed him anyway, acquiring him as the key piece in the trade that sent right-hander Dan Haren to the Angels. The deal also included lefty Patrick Corbin.
By the following summer, Skaggs was one of the better pitching prospects in baseball. He became part of a group of Diamondbacks prospects that was supposed to transform the organization: Skaggs, Trevor Bauer, Jarrod Parker, Corbin, Wade Miley.
As often happens in baseball, it didn’t work out the way it was expected. The club traded all but one of those starters, including Skaggs, who was sent back to the Angels in December 2013. The Diamondbacks’ roster has turned over so much that only a handful of players remain who had crossed paths with Skaggs.
“I remember meeting Skaggs,” reliever Archie Bradley said. “He was 19 or 20. I had just been drafted. He was running around with Corbin. … For him to be gone now, it’s surreal. It doesn’t seem real.”
Now with the Nationals, Corbin started on Tuesday and, instead of his usual No. 46, he wore uniform No. 45 in Skaggs’ honor. Corbin pitched well, too, giving up one run in seven innings against the Marlins.
Butcher smiled when recalling Skaggs’ personality. He recalled him as witty and personable, confident and kind. Butcher remembers Skaggs, whose signature pitch was a big, looping curveball, walking into the clubhouse shaking his left arm and saying, “That’s the moneymaker.”
After the Angels reacquired Skaggs, he and Butcher worked to revamp his delivery in hopes of finding the velocity Skaggs had lost the previous season with the Diamondbacks.
He got it back, and though he was expected to start in Triple-A, Skaggs won a spot on the Angels’ Opening Day roster in 2014. Recalling the moment Skaggs learned he made the team, Butcher became emotional.
“I remember seeing him smile,” Butcher said, pausing for a half-minute and staring down. “It was pretty cool, a pretty special moment.”
After coming to the Diamondbacks four years ago, Butcher said he stayed in touch with Skaggs. He also followed his career closely from afar, seeing the ups and downs; much of the latter was due to injuries. Butcher had been excited by the way Skaggs was pitching this year.
“It was kind of fun to see him get his wheels going in the right direction,” Butcher said. “He always had the ability, but he had to battle through some injuries. I think it was kind of coming together for him this year.
“Just a great kid, a great teammate. I loved him, man. I can’t believe he’s not here.”