Outside The Confines: Tyler Skaggs’ family files suit against Angels

It has been almost two years since the tragic overdose death of Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs. In that time, his death has raised a lot of questions about drug use, addiction to painkillers, and precisely how it was that Skaggs was able to get the drugs that ultimately killed him.

Now, the Skaggs family is suing both the Angels organization and two former employees, alleging the team supplied Skaggs with drugs. The team and former employees are accused of wrongful death and negligence, and as shared by Nathan Fenno, the lawsuit said the following:

“The Angels owed Tyler Skaggs a duty to provide a safe place to work and play baseball. The Angels breached their duty when they allowed [Eric Kay], a drug addict, complete access to Tyler. The Angels also breached their duty when they allowed Kay to provide Tyler with dangerous illegal drugs. The Angels should have known Kay was dealing drugs to players. Tyler died as a result of the Angels’ breach of their duties.”

For more on this developing story, you can read:

• This piece on Sports Illustrated by Ben Pickman,
• And this piece at ESPN, by T.J. Quinn.

Now on to the rest of the links.

• Jay Jaffe looks at the two sides of Xander Bogaerts: his hot bat and his cold glove.
• Sticky substance woes claimed their first victim in Hector Santiago, writes Joseph Salvador.
• ESPN provides us a good week-one summary of the impact we’ve seen surrounding the sticky stuff crackdown.
• And Buster Olney wonders if teams will start reevaluating some pitchers if they are “sticky stuff guys.”
• Gotta love this tradition in the Brewers press box.

• The reinvention of Jimmy Nelson as a bullpen ace intrigues Carmen Ciardiello.
• This past week the temperatures soared out west, and poor Dylan Bundy tossed his cookies, but he wasn’t the only player feeling sick during a game, shares David Schoenfield.
• Andrew Miller shares his opinions on the sticky stuff crackdown with Jayson Stark. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• That’s a mighty polite bat flip.

• Davey Martinez managed his way to a World Series, but didn’t get the opportunity to manage for the NL All-Star team. Brittany Ghiroli has the story. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Kyle Schwarber is swinging his way to one of the hottest seasons in baseball, but as Stephanie Apstein writes, he’s not counting.
• In my latest for FanGraphs I look at how hard it is for Canadian fans to go without live baseball and what experiences they’re really missing most.
• Kaitlyn McGrath offers up a little good baseball park trivia. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• In “I just love a good baseball name” news...

• Here’s a fun, unique one. Zach Buchanan has the history behind the “roof music” at Chase Field. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Which team has lost the most spin since the sticky stuff rules went into place? It’s the Dodgers, and Robert Arthur wonders who shoulders most of that blame. (Baseball Prospectus Premium required.)
• Clinton Yates has the story of poet Yorri Berry, who dazzled at the College World Series.
• The Baseball Prospectus Pandemic Book Club continues with Tokyo Junkie, which you can read an excerpt of here.
• Welcome to the new president of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.