Four MLB players testify they received drugs from ex-Angels employee in Tyler Skaggs trial

Four MLB players have testified that they received drugs from a former Los Angeles Angels employee accused of providing deceased Angels’ pitcher Tyler Skaggs drugs before his overdose death in 2019, The Associated Press reported. 

On Tuesday, pitchers Matt Harvey, Mike Morin, Cam Bedrosian, and first baseman C.J. Cron testified that Eric Prescott Kay obtained drugs for them. 

Eric Prescott Kay is a former public relations employee for the Angels baseball team, according to the AP. 

Both Morin and Cron testified that they obtained oxycodone from Kay, with Bedrosian testifying that he received three of four pills once from Kay, giving the rest back after taking one and not liking the way it made him feel.

Harvey, the most high-profile name of the four and a former all-star with the New York Mets, testified that Skaggs provided him with oxycodone during his season with the Angels and said he provided drugs to Skaggs as well. 

Harvey, who said he was subpoenaed and would have to use his Fifth Amendment rights to not testify without immunity, admitted to being a cocaine user before and during his stint with the Angels, the AP reported. 

Harvey also said in court that Skaggs had another source for drugs that he used. 

“In baseball, you do everything you can to stay on the field,” Harvey said. “At the time I felt, as a teammate, I was just helping him get through whatever he needed to get through.”

This comes as Kay is facing drug distribution and conspiracy charges in connection to Skaggs’s death. 

Skaggs, an eight-year MLB veteran, was found dead in his Dallas-area hotel room in July 2019. A coroner’s office report said Skaggs choked on his own vomit and had a fatal mix of alcohol, fentanyl, and oxycodone in his system.

Kay was placed on leave by the team after Skaggs death’ and never returned to his position, the AP noted.