Matt Harvey Named as Possible Drug Source for Ex-Teammate Tyler Skaggs
Kelvin Kuo/USA TODAY Sports
Matt Harvey was named as a possible drug source for former Angels teammate Tyler Skaggs on Tuesday by Eric Kay’s defense attorney on the first day of Kay's trial in connection to Skaggs's death, per ESPN's T.J. Quinn.
Kay, the former Angels communications director, is on trial after a Texas federal grand jury indicted him on two counts in the overdose death of Skaggs. The indictment charged Kay with distributing the fentanyl that caused Skaggs's death in 2019.
"On or about June 30, 2019 … Eric Prescott Kay, the defendant, did knowingly and intentionally distribute a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl, a Schedule II controlled substance, and the use of said substance resulted in the death and serious bodily injury of [Skaggs]," the indictment said.
Defense attorney Reagan Wynn said in an opening statement that Kay saw the former Los Angeles star ingest three lines of crushed pills—two blue and one pink—on the night of his death. Kay asked where the pink substance came from, to which Skaggs responded, per Wynn, “Those are Percocets I got from [former teammate Matt] Harvey.”
No Percocet was found in Skaggs’s system, however, and investigators later determined the pink pills found in Skaggs’s room were “legitimately manufactured five-milligram oxycodone pills that did not contain fentanyl.”
A toxicology report revealed he had fentanyl, oxycodone and alcohol in his system. While under the influence of the three substances, Skaggs choked on his vomit and died.
The Tarrant County medical examiner’s office listed his cause of death as a mixture of “alcohol, fentanyl and oxycodone intoxication with a terminal aspiration of gastric contents.”
The prosecution said in its opening statement that an unnamed player will testify who gave Skaggs the pink pills but denied it was before the road trip that ended in Skaggs’s death, as the defense claims. The Texas prosecution must establish that the distribution of the fatal fentanyl took place in the state. Per ESPN, Harvey is expected to appear as the government’s witness later this week.
In addition to facing a felony charge of causing Skaggs’s opioid-related death, Kay faces a second felony charge: distributing opioids. The prosecution used its opening statement to establish a timeline to prove only Kay could have provided the laced drugs that resulted in Skaggs’s death. However, the defense did say Kay gave the pitcher oxycodone pills that day, earlier at Angel Stadium. According to The Athletic, the defense said Skaggs ingested them then, and that the former communications director did not bring them to Texas.
The prosecution also stated that Kay distributed opioids to numerous players, and “even got them from the umpire’s clubhouse attendant at the ballpark,” per ESPN's T.J. Quinn. In an affidavit supporting the criminal complaint against Kay, it revealed that Skaggs and Kay exchanged text messages on June 30, when the lefthander asked Kay to come to his room and bring pills.
“Eric Kay and Tyler Skaggs were not ‘outside of work’ friends,” assistant U.S. attorney Lindsey Beran said, per ESPN. “Eric Kay was Tyler Skaggs’s drug dealer. That was their relationship.”
Former Angels teammate Andrew Heaney began his testimony Tuesday, and six more current and former MLB players are listed as witnesses, including Harvey, Cam Bedrosian, C.J. Cron, Mike Morin, Blake Parker and Garrett Richards.
Harvey is currently a free agent after pitching for the Baltimore Orioles during the 2021 season, during which he recorded a 6.27 ERA in 28 games.
