L.A. Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs choked to death on his own vomit after ingesting a combination of opioid drugs and alcohol, according to a toxicology report released Friday.
The 27-year-old was found dead in his Texas hotel room while on the road for an away game on July 1.
The Tarrant County medical examiner’s office listed his cause of death as a mixture of “alcohol, fentanyl and oxycodone intoxication with terminal aspiration of gastric contents.” The death was ruled as accidental.
The team tweeted a statement on Friday: “Tyler was and always will be a beloved member of the Angels Family and we are deeply saddened to learn what caused this tragic death. Angels Baseball has provided our full cooperation and assistance to the Southland Police as they conduct their investigation.”
Skaggs’ family released their own statement: “We are heartbroken to learn that the passing of our beloved Tyler was the result of a combination of dangerous drugs and alcohol. That is completely out of character for someone who worked so hard to become a Major League Baseball player and had a very promising future in the game he loved so much.”
Skaggs’ relatives also said they had hired an attorney, Rusty Hardin, because they had learned that the death “may involve an employee of the Los Angeles Angels.”
“We are grateful for the work of the detectives in the Southlake Police Department and their ongoing investigation into the circumstances surrounding Tyler’s death,” their statement said. “We were shocked to learn that it may involve an employee of the Los Angeles Angels. We will not rest until we learn the truth about how Tyler came into possession of these narcotics, including who supplied them. To that end, we have hired attorney Rusty Hardin to assist us.”
Hardin did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
MLB spokesman Pat Courtney said the league was “unaware” of the allegation and will investigate the matter.