Veteran MLB pitcher Wade Miley has denied any wrongdoing after a report surfaced Thursday tying him to the drug use of former Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, who died in 2019 due to complications from opioid use.
The Athletic reported on new court filings in which Ryan Hamill, Skaggs’ former agent, claimed the pitcher told him he received prescription drugs from Miley while they played together on the Arizona Diamondbacks:
“He came clean,” Hamill testified. “He said he had been using — I believe it was Percocets — and he said he got them through Wade Miley.”
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The filing was made as part of a motion from the Angels for summary judgment in the face of a $210 million lawsuit the Skaggs family has filed against the team.
Miley’s name also reportedly came up in the criminal proceedings against Eric Kay, the former Angels communications director who was convicted of providing Skaggs the drugs that killed him. In a recorded prison call played during his sentencing hearing, Kay reportedly told his mother Miley had been a drug source for Skaggs.
Speaking Friday, Miley, now a member of the Cincinnati Reds, told reporters he never witnessed any of “this,” taken to mean Skaggs’ drug use, and had previously never been accused of wrongdoing:
“I hate what happened to Tyler. It sucks. My thoughts are with his family and his friends, but I’m not going to sit here and talk about things that somebody might have said about me or whatnot.
“I was never a witness for any of this. I was never accused of any wrongdoing.”
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Miley also said he didn’t believe the situation would be a distraction for him, but he declined to answer questions about the truth of the allegations or whether anyone from MLB has contacted him.
Wade Miley played two seasons with Tyler Skaggs on the Arizona Diamondbacks. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
(Jason Miller via Getty Images)
Skaggs died on July 1, 2019, at the age of 27 while on a road trip in Texas with the Angels. An autopsy concluded that he accidentally died of asphyxia after choking on his own vomit while under the influence of fentanyl, oxycodone and alcohol.
The tragedy revealed a darker side of the Angels’ organization, with Skaggs’ former teammates Matt Harvey, Mike Morin, Cam Bedrosian and C.J. Cron all testifying Kay had supplied them with oxycodone pills. Harvey received a 60-game suspension after admitting he frequently exchanged pills with Skaggs.
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Nearly six years later, the case is still alive in the pending legal action against the Angels’ organization, which has had to balance respecting Skaggs’ legacy with attempting to fight a nine-figure lawsuit over the team’s alleged negligence with him. Kay was sentenced to 22 years in prison after being found guilty in 2022 of distribution of controlled substances resulting in death and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.
Miley is a 15-year MLB veteran with a career 4.09 ERA across tenures with eight teams. He was on the D-backs with Skaggs in 2012 and 2013, the early years of their careers.
Miley joined the Reds on a minor-league contract last winter, his second stint with the team, but struggled in the minors and opted out of his contract on June 1. He re-signed with the team three days later and made his season debut the same day.
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