Always a top prospect, Angels left-hander Tyler Skaggs reached the major leagues one month after he turned 21. Starting a major league game is not new to him.
Yet since he underwent elbow ligament replacement surgery in 2014, it has become anything but routine. On Thursday at the Oakland Coliseum, Skaggs made only his 11th start in the last 33 months. It was an imperfect effort in the Angels’ 5-1 loss to the Athletics, but one that encouraged him.
“It was fun,” Skaggs said. “Besides the third inning, everything was really good.”
Skaggs alternated notching strikeouts and doling out walks to the first four batters he faced, then induced a flyout from Ryon Healy to escape the first inning.