Nine players to honor Tyler Skaggs on MLB Players' Weekend jerseys

Edward Sutelan

Nine players to honor Tyler Skaggs on MLB Players' Weekend jerseys image

Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs died suddenly on July 1, 2019, before a game with the Texas Rangers. He was 27 years old. 

Tributes remembering Skaggs have poured in throughout the season, but for the MLB Players' Weekend starting Friday, a few players are taking it a step further. 

While patches will be on the arms of each jersey, nine players will pay a special tribute to Skaggs on the back of the jersey instead of a player-specific nickname, MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince reported

MORE: Ranking the 25 best nicknames for 2019 MLB Players' Weekend

The players donning jerseys honoring Skaggs will be Braves starting pitcher Max Fried, Brewers third baseman Mike Moustakas and outfielders Ryan Braun and Christian Yelich, Cardinals starting pitcher Jack Flaherty, Nationals starting pitcher Patrick Corbin, Rangers relief pitcher Jesse Chavez and first baseman Scott Heineman, and White Sox starting pitcher Lucas Giolito.

Each player told Castrovince they knew Skaggs well, with some hailing from Santa Monica, Calif., like Skaggs.

"We just got to talking and reaching out to reps at the Players Association to see if they thought it would be doable," Fried said in an interview with Castrovince. "We had already put our names in, but just to be able to do this for one night to pay our respects and give him a nice tribute is something we wanted to do."

Fried, Moustakas, Braun, Yelich, Flaherty, Heineman and Giolito will all wear jerseys that read "LOVE YOU TY" on the back. Chavez and Corbin will wear jerseys with "FORTY FIVE" (Skaggs' uniform number) imprinted on the back. The players will wear those jerseys Friday before changing to their nickname jerseys for games Saturday and Sunday.

Skaggs was found dead in his hotel room in Southlake, Texas. The cause of death has not been determined.

Edward Sutelan

Edward Sutelan Photo

Edward Sutelan joined The Sporting News in 2021 after covering high school sports for PennLive. Edward graduated from The Ohio State University in 2019, where he gained experience covering the baseball, football and basketball teams. Edward also spent time working for The Columbus Dispatch and Cape Cod Times.