Publish date: 2023-12-22

Tyler Wayne Skaggs was an American left-handed professional baseball starting pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Angels from 2012 until his death in 2019.

A native of Woodland Hills, California, and a graduate of Santa Monica High School, Skaggs was a supplemental first-round selection for the Angels in the 2009 Major League Baseball draft. He was traded to the Diamondbacks the following year as part of an exchange for pitcher Dan Haren and rose through Arizona’s farm system.

Despite his initial plans to begin pitching in the minor leagues by the end of the 2015 season, Skaggs did not start practising again until the beginning of the 2016 season and returned to Angel’s mound that July.

Although he figured prominently in the Angels’ rotation between 2017 and 2019, Skaggs continued to miss large parts of each season because of injury. Through June 2019, he posted a career earned run average (ERA) of 4.41, recorded 476 strikeouts, and had a win-loss record of 28–38.

Tyler Skaggs Parents: Meet Debbie Skaggs and Darrell Skaggs

His parents were athletes: his mother Debbie was a longtime head softball coach at Santa Monica High School, while his father Darnell played high school baseball as a shortstop. His stepfather, Dan Ramos, played college baseball as well. Growing up, Skaggs attended his mother’s softball practices, where he assisted the players by fielding balls.

Debbie wasn’t the only familial influence on the diamond. His father, Darrell Skaggs, was a deadeye-hitting high school shortstop, and his stepfather, Dan Ramos, played in college and has helped with his wife’s softball team.

But Tyler was a constant presence at his mother’s games and practices, playing catch, shagging balls and taking any cues he could from a collection of formidable female athletes. “He actually formed relationships with a lot of my players,” Debbie, 55, says as she navigates freeway traffic on the 405 en route to Angel Stadium in Orange County.

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