The death in 2019 of 27-year old Los Angeles Angels baseball player Tyler Skaggs from an opioid overdose raised serious questions about drug use in Major League Baseball. Now, the trial of a communications executive accused of supplying drugs to the player (he has denied the charges) is revealing the possible extent of drug-taking in the majors. According to trial testimony, four other players have come forward to say they too used opioids while playing for the Angels, pointing to the prevalence of drugs inside the game. This is putting increased scrutiny on the Angels for failing to recognize what was happening in the clubhouse and the league’s efforts to address opioid addiction in its ranks. Players began mandatory opioid testing only in 2020, decades after the opioid epidemic was sweeping the country, and now kills more than 100,000 Americans a year. Given the extent of the opioid problem across the country, experts say it was inevitable that opoid use was more widespread than previously known. Baseball players and other professional athletes could be particularly susceptible to opioid addiction, as they must frequently deal with pain and the pressure to perform in spite of it.
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Rosenthal Center for AddictIon Studies