By Fabian Ardaya | The Athletic
Tyler Skaggs was passionate about a lot of things. And he really loved pitching in Southern California. Skaggs pitched for the Angels but didn’t have the typical homegrown-player tale. The tattoos etched along his right arm included “Santa Monica,” where he grew up on the softball fields; his mother, Debbie, coached at Santa Monica High school.
In cursive on his right triceps were the words “City of Angels.” On his right biceps was an unmistakable “LA” logo.
Growing up, he had visions of wearing blue and pitching at Dodger Stadium. He once was a 17-year-old with a loopy curveball, who grew up with a radio soundtrack provided by K-EARTH 101.1 and Power 106 on the radio, as well as Vin Scully’s Dodger broadcasts. He blossomed as a prospect, a tall lefty with an old-school desire to pitch deep into games and the aptitude to adopt new-school methods. He felt snubbed when the Dodgers didn’t take him with the 36th overall pick in the 2009 MLB Draft.
