Tyler Skaggs, a 27-year-old pitcher with the Los Angeles Angels, wasfound dead in his hotel room on Monday, just before the team was scheduled to take on the Texas Rangers in Arlington for the first game of a four-game series.
A cause of death has yet to be revealed, the Southlake Police Department said in a statement. No foul play is suspected, according to authorities.
“It is with great sorrow that we report Tyler Skaggs passed away earlier today in Texas,” the Angels said in a post to their Twitter account. “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.”
Tyler Skaggs.Ric Tapia/Getty Images
His mother, Debbie Skaggs, coached softball at Santa Monica High School, and retired in 2015 to support her son’s MLB career, she told the school’snewspaper at the time.
But until 2016, Tommy John surgery prevented the star from taking the mound.
Tyler Skaggs.Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images
According to theChicago Sun-Times,Skaggs was in his fourth year with the Angels and made 15 appearances with the team this season, amassing a 7-7 record and 4.29 ERA in 79.2 innings.
He recently pitched for the team at Angel Stadium of Anaheim just two days before his death, in a 4-0 loss to the Oakland Athletics.
“He was going after them,” Angels manager Brad Ausmus said of Skaggs, according to theLos Angeles Times. “The stuff overall was pretty good. But he was up near 100 pitches, and we’re trying to avoid big innings, and keep the game close.”
Skaggs regularly posted pictures of his teammates and behind-the-scenes action on social media. He unquestionably had pride in being an Angel, and his most recent picture shows him — along with his teammates — dressed incowboy attire for their tripto Texas.
But when he wasn’t posting pictures of the team, Skaggs would often share photographs of him and wife Carli, who he married in December.
According to his social media posts, Skaggspopped the questionin Bora Bora, a small South Pacific island northwest of Tahiti in French Polynesia, on November 9, 2017.
A few months later in January, he wished his fiancé a happy birthdaywith a post on social media.
“Happy Birthday to my Best Friend my Future Wife and my Forever Travel Partner. I love you babe,” Skaggs wrote to Carli. “Thank you for always believing in me and pushing me to be great.”
However, the California wildfires nearly ruined the couple’s wedding plans.
“This was important to us. But it was nothing compared to the way people’s lives were being impacted. A thousand things go into planning a wedding, but no one ever plans on their venue burning,” he toldWealthManagement.com. “We were very lucky,” she said.
The two then tied the knot in December 2018, and Skaggs later celebrated the event when he reflected on the year.
“2018 was the best year yet,” he wrote in the caption of a picture posted toInstagram. “Thank you to everyone who helped make it special — 2019 will be even better!!”
source: people.com
