In 2018, Tyler Skaggs broke out with a phenomenal season, but once again injuries ruined something great for the Angels. Skaggs posted an 8-10 record with a 4.02 ERA and that does not sound all that great, but he was a lot better than that.
Tyler’s season began on March 30th against the Athletics in Oakland where he pitched 6.1 innings allowing 3 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, and struck out 5. Skaggs managed to get the win despite getting 1 run of support in the top of the 1st when Mike Trout hit a solo homerun to left field off of Sean Manaea who started for Oakland. The other run came in the top of the 9th when Skaggs was out of the game and the Angels would go on to win 2-1.
Arguably Tyler’s best start came on April 23th, where he started against the Astros in Houston. Tyler pitched 7 great innings while giving up 4 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, and struck out 3. The Angels got Skaggs the win by scoring 1 run in both the 5th and 6th inning. The Angels won 2-0 with Skaggs having his back against the wall the entire game. Over a near 3 month span Skaggs was one of the best starting pitchers. Tyler was great over a 15 start stretch, beginning at the start of the season against the A’s through July 25 against the White Sox. Through that time he had started in 19 games with a record of 8-6, 2.62 ERA, and 115 SO/31 BB in 110.0 IP.
After that, Skaggs made 5 starts and only pitched 15.1 innings with a 14.09 ERA. Skaggs ended up having a groin injury that he tried to come back too soon from twice. He came back early twice due to the fact that the Angels had been dealing with injuries to the rotation and Skaggs tried to pitch through this injury.
Tyler made a start on July 31st and his ERA jumped up nearly a full run against the Tampa Bay Rays. He gave up 10 runs through 3.1 innings and went to the 10-day disabled list after this start. He tried to come back right away and pitched again on August 11th against the Oakland Athletics and gave up 7 runs through 3.1 innings and his ERA jumped up more than a full run from these two starts. He went back to the disabled list and he would come back to make three more starts in mid-September. Skaggs would only throw 8.2 innings in those three starts, while giving up 7 runs. Outside of those last 5 starts, Tyler showed he is capable of pitching at the top of a rotation.
Featured Image: AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
