Angels outfielder Mike Trout testifies he loved late teammate Skaggs and saw no signs of drug use

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout testified Tuesday that he loved his teammate Tyler Skaggs like a brother and never saw signs of drug use before he died of an overdose on a team trip to Texas in 2019.

Trout, a three-time American League Most Valuable Player who hit his 400th career home run this year, took the stand in a civil trial in Southern California over whether the MLB team should be held responsible for its communication director Eric Kay giving Skaggs a fentanyl-laced pill that led to his death.

Trout, who acknowledged he didn't like speaking in public, told the courtroom about his friendship with Skaggs from the time they roomed together in a host family's basement as rookies in Iowa and through playing for the Angels. Both were drafted out of high school as teens in 2009 — Trout from New Jersey, and Skaggs from California.

Skaggs was “very funny, outgoing, fun to be around” and toted around a boom box as the team’s DJ, Trout said.

Trout said Kay was good at his job, getting players to give interviews and guiding them on which questions they might be asked. Trout said the players used to pay Kay for stunts like taking a fastball to the leg, shaving off his eyebrows and eating a pimple off Trout’s back. At one point, a clubhouse attendant suggested the players should stop, Trout said, because Kay might be using the money for a “bad purpose.”

Trout said he had seen Kay acting wired and sweating and “the first thing that came to mind was drugs.”

He said it was clear he was “using something.”

"I just didn’t know what it was,” Trout said, adding he approached Kay and told him if he needed anything to let him know. Trout said he also decided not to sign autographs requested by Kay unless he knew who they were going to out of concern they could be sold for money.

The testimony came at the trial for a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Skaggs' wife, Carli, and his parents, who contend the Angels made a series of reckless decisions that gave Kay access to MLB players when he was addicted to drugs and dealing them. The team has countered that Skaggs was also drinking heavily and his actions occurred on his own time and in the privacy of his hotel room when he died.

The trial comes more than six years after 27-year-old Skaggs was found dead in the suburban Dallas hotel room where he was staying as the Angels were supposed to open a four-game series against the Texas Rangers. A coroner’s report says Skaggs choked to death on his vomit and that a toxic mix of alcohol, fentanyl and oxycodone was found in his system.

Kay was convicted in 2022 of providing Skaggs with a counterfeit oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl and sentenced to 22 years in federal prison. His federal criminal trial in Texas included testimony from five MLB players who said they received oxycodone from Kay at various times from 2017 to 2019, the years he was accused of obtaining pills and giving them to Angels players.

The family is seeking $118 million for Skaggs’ lost earnings, compensation for pain and suffering and punitive damages against the team. In addition to Trout, other players including former Angels pitcher Wade Miley, who currently plays for the Cincinnati Reds, could also testify in what is expected to be a weekslong trial in Santa Ana, Calif.

Skaggs had been a regular in the Angels’ starting rotation since late 2016 and struggled with injuries repeatedly during that time. He previously played for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

After Skaggs’ death, the MLB reached a deal with the players association to start testing for opioids and to refer those who test positive to the treatment board.

Trout said he and Skaggs played basketball together, watched football games and went for dinner. The left-handed pitcher was improving after returning from Tommy John surgery and throwing balls anywhere from the low to mid-90s in what was turning out to be a good season for him in 2019, he said.

The last time Trout said he saw Skaggs was in a hotel elevator in Texas after the team flew out from California.

Trout said he still misses his friend, who he called the "life of the party.” His jersey, No. 45, hangs in Trout's house, he said.

When asked if he'd rather be somewhere else rather than testifying in court, Trout answered quickly, “yes.”

“At least you're honest,” plaintiffs' lawyer Bill Haggerty said.

FILE - Los Angeles Angels relief pitcher Trevor Cahill reaches down to touch the number 45 on the back of the mound as he prepares to work against the Texas Rangers in the fifth inning of a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, July 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)

Shawn Holley, right, and Rusty Hardin, attorneys for the family of former baseball pitcher Tyler Skaggs, arrive during the trial for the wrongful death lawsuit accusing the Los Angeles Angels baseball team of being responsible for the 2019 drug overdose death of Skaggs Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, in Santa Ana, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Shawn Holley, right, and Rusty Hardin, attorneys for the family of former baseball pitcher Tyler Skaggs, arrive during the trial for the wrongful death lawsuit accusing the Los Angeles Angels baseball team of being responsible for the 2019 drug overdose death of Skaggs Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, in Santa Ana, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

FILE - Los Angeles Angels' Mike Trout stands on the field before a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Sept. 27, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Madison Keys planned to walk into the player tunnel at Rod Laver Arena in a quiet moment when nobody was watching, and take a photo of her name listed with the other champions at the Australian Open.

After beating top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in last year's final at Melbourne Park to win her first Grand Slam title, Keys pictured the moment she'd return to the stadium for the first time as defending champion.

“I’ve always kind of remembered walking through that tunnel and seeing all the names,” she said Friday, two days before the first major of the year starts. “It was a little bit of a pinch-me moment where I was like, ‘Wow, I’m going to be up there.’

“I have not seen my name in the tunnel yet. I hope I can go in there when there’s no one else so I can take a picture and send it to my mom."

Before facing the media in Melbourne, she couldn't help but notice other evidence at the venue of her breakthrough triumph.

“There’s a really cool photo of me holding the trophy," Keys said. “Getting to see those, it’s something you dream of in your career.”

The 30-year-old American said it was easy to look back almost 12 months and think everything worked to perfection, but "also you think about, ‘Wow, I almost lost.’

"I was match point down. So many three-set matches. There were some ugly matches. I think it kind of just makes everything a little bit better just because it wasn’t issue-free.”

Keys won a tune-up tournament in Adelaide in 2025 before ending Sabalenka's 20-match winning streak at the Australian Open. At 29, she was the tournament's oldest first-time women's champion. She also set a record as the player with the longest gap between their first two Grand Slam finals — her first was the 2017 U.S. Open.

The Australian Open victory launched her into a Top 5 ranking the following month. After the breakthrough, though, she was ousted in the French Open quarterfinals, the third round at Wimbledon and had a nervy first-round exit at the U.S. Open. At the season-ending WTA Finals, she lost two group-stage matches.

Sabalenka, meanwhile, admitted Friday that the loss here to Keys last year was tough.

“She played incredible and overplayed me. Took me a little time to recover,” she said. “We had matches after that. I worked on my mistake on those matches.

“Going to this AO, I’m not really focusing on that last year result but of course I would like to do just a little bit better than I did last year!”

Sabalenka, who beat Keys in the quarterfinals last week en route to the Brisbane International title, plays her first-round match Sunday night against Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah, a wild-card entry from France.

Keys also lost in the quarterfinals in her title defense in Adelaide earlier this week. But she's taking it in her stride as she prepares for another career first: defending a major title.

“Even though I’ve been on tour for a long time, this is also still my first experience as that,” she said. “I’m really just trying to soak in all of the really cool fun parts."

Seeded ninth and on the other side of the draw from Sabalenka, Keys is scheduled to open against Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine.

“Yes, I’m sure going on court I’m going to be very nervous," she said, "but I don’t think I’ve ever walked on court first round of a Grand Slam and not been nervous.”

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus waves to the crowd after winning the women's final match against Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-4, 6-3, at the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)

Madison Keyes of the United States reacts during press conference ahead of the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)