Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
Two Former Philadelphia Phillies Among Those Who Testified in Tyler Skaggs Trial
On Tuesday, the latest round of testimonies in the case of U.S. v. Eric Kay was heard before a federal court in Fort Worth which is centered around the death of Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs in 2019.
Skaggs was found dead from an overdose in a South Lake hotel room, with pills he took linked to former Angels communications director Eric Kay, who supplied players with pills during his time with the team.
Among those who testified were four former teammates of Tyler Skaggs in Matt Harvey, C.J. Cron, Cam Bedrosian, and Mike Morin, the latter two of which are former Phillies pitchers.
Their testimonies provided the court with new insight into the use of opioids inside the Los Angeles Angels' clubhouse and dugout, according to Sam Blum of The Athletic.
Their testimonies painted a picture of their locker room that included blue and pink oxycodone pills in the lockers of critically acclaimed players.
Harvey testified he had supplied Skaggs with pills numerous times, some instances included requests from Skaggs in which he added that hoping that the opioids would make him feel "loosey-goosey" on the mound.
While at the stand, Cron stated that Kay supplied him with pain pills around eight times, with their first exchanges coming towards the end of 2016, continuing through his time with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018, according to ESPN.
In his testimony, Bedrosian explained that he too had taken pills from Kay in the past, however returned them after having a bad experience with them. Bedrosian pitched for the Phillies during the 2021 season, appearing in 11 games with an ERA of 4.35 with eight strikeouts.
Carli Skaggs, the widow of Tyler Skaggs, gave a tearful and heartfelt testimony, explaining to the court the events which took place the night before Skaggs' overdose, which included angry texts which were sent without the knowledge of what was happening to Skaggs.
The trial is set to continue on Wednesday, with the defense set to make their case.
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