Tyler Skaggs’ relapse into opioid addiction was not evident to many of his closest associates, including his agent, who testified Wednesday, Dec. 3, in the wrongful death lawsuit of the pitcher who died after ingesting a fentanyl-laced pill in 2019.
‘Before he died, I did not think he was using,’ Ryan Hamill, the pitcher’s longtime agent, said in court, according to The Athletic.
Hamill played an active role in what’s been described as an intervention with Skaggs in 2013, when the left-handed pitcher was addicted to Percocet. Skaggs underwent Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery a year later, before which Skaggs’ mother, Debbie Hetman, cautioned surgeon Neal ElAttrache about Skaggs’ painkiller dependency, she testified earlier.
ElAttrache, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ longtime team orthopedist, testified Dec. 3 that he couldn’t recall being told of Skaggs’ past Percocet use.
Skaggs and Hamill had a text message exchange in 2018 as Skaggs dealt with a leg injury, and Hamill suggested asking the Angels to prescribe a Dose Pack to deal with inflammation. The team declined, citing potential side effects, including liver damage.
Skaggs, The Athletic reported, then asked Hamill if he could procure one.
‘I could go to jail for that,’ Hamill responded.
He also recounted a 2019 conversation in which he noted that Skaggs’ wife, Carli, had not accompanied him on road trips. Skaggs responded: ‘I do my own thing on the road.’
Hamill did not press the matter, testifying that ‘there are certain things as an agent you don’t want to know,’ though he had no inclination Skaggs’ comment regarded drug use.
Skaggs’ family is seeking $118 million in lost wages in addition to punitive damages, claiming the Angels knew or should have known that club employee Eric Kay was providing painkillers to Skaggs and other players. Kay is serving a 22-year sentence after a Texas jury convicted him of providing Skaggs the Fentanyl-laced Oxycodone pill that contributed to the pitcher’s death.