The Los Angeles Angels will honor Tyler Skaggs by wearing a patch with the pitcher's No. 45 on their uniforms for the rest of the season.
Skaggs, a much-loved member of the team, was found unresponsive in his hotel room in Texas on Monday. A cause of death has not been determined, but police say they do not suspect suicide or foul play.
On Tuesday night, when the Angels returned to play after postponing Monday's game against the Texas Rangers, they wore a black, encircled patch with No. 45 above the heart on their uniforms. The No. 45 was painted on the back of the mound at Globe Life Park in Arlington, and Angels pitchers Andrew Heaney and Cam Bedrosian held up Skaggs' No. 45 jersey pregame, during a moment of silence for him.
The team tweeted out a photo on Wednesday of the patch that will be worn the rest of the season.
For the remainder of the season, we will wear this patch to honor Tyler Skaggs. pic.twitter.com/x3PAoVdUdJ
— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) July 3, 2019
"We lost a teammate, we lost a friend, a brother," All-Star Mike Trout, a close friend, told reporters after Tuesday's game. "To lose somebody like him, it's tough. My first at-bat, I get up there, all I do is think about him.
"It's bigger than the game. The friendship and love I had for him and his family, it's more than that."
With the team out of town, fans went to Angel Stadium, where they left flowers, hats, baseballs, signs, photos and other memorabilia in a makeshift memorial mound.