Eric Lawrence Skoglund (born October 26, 1992) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

from 2017 to 2019.

Playing career

Amateur

Skoglund attended

Sarasota High School Sarasota High School is a public high school of the Sarasota County Public Schools in Sarasota, Florida, United States, a city by the Gulf of Mexico. The school colors are black and orange and the mascot is a sailor. The school was segregated a ...

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers, Florida, Fort Myers and Punta Gorda, Florida, Punta Gord ...

. He was drafted by the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

in the 16th round of the

2011 Major League Baseball Draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the firs ...

but did not sign and attended the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida. ...

(UCF), where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

. In 2012, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Harwich Mariners The Harwich Mariners are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Harwich, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Mariners play their home games at Whitehouse Fiel ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

, and returned to the league in 2013 to play for the

Bourne Braves The Bourne Braves are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Bourne, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Braves play their home games at Doran Park (ballpark) ...

. After his junior season, he was drafted by the

in the third round of the

2014 MLB Draft The 2014 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 5 through June 7, 2014, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first two rounds were conducted on June 5, followed by rounds three through ten on June 6, and the last 30 round ...

Kansas City Royals

Skoglund made his professional debut with the

Idaho Falls Chukars The Idaho Falls Chukars are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and play their home games at Melaleu ...

in 2014 and spent the whole season there, going 0–2 with a 5.09 ERA in nine games (eight starts). He pitched 2015 with the

Wilmington Blue Rocks The Wilmington Blue Rocks are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Wilmington, Delaware, and play their home games at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium. Fra ...

where he compiled a 6–3 record and 3.52 ERA in 15 starts and 2016 with the

Northwest Arkansas Naturals The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are a Minor League Baseball team based in Springdale, Arkansas, Springdale, Arkansas. The team is a member of the Texas League, and serves as the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. T ...

where he pitched to a 7–10 record and 3.45 ERA in 27 games started. He started 2017 with the Naturals, but was promoted to the

Omaha Storm Chasers The Omaha Storm Chasers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. They are located in Papillion, Nebraska, a suburb southwest of Omaha, Nebraska, Omah ...

after only one start with the Naturals. On May 30, he was called up by the Royals, making his major league debut the same day. In his major league debut, Skoglund pitched scoreless innings with five strikeouts, allowing only two hits and one walk in a 1–0 win over the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

. Skoglund was sent back down to Omaha on June 19, and he spent the remainder of the 2017 season going back and forth between Omaha and Kansas City. In 19 starts for Omaha, he was 4–5 with a 4.11 ERA and in seven games (five starts) for Kansas City, he posted a 1–2 record and 9.50 ERA. Skoglund began 2018 in Kansas City's opening rotation. He was 1–5 in 9 starts before being placed on the disabled list. On January 16, 2019, Skoglund was suspended 80 games after testing positive for

Ostarine Enobosarm, also formerly known as ostarine and by the developmental code names GTx-024, MK-2866, and S-22, is a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) which is under development for the treatment of androgen receptor-positive breast canc ...

and

Ligandrol LGD-4033, also known by the developmental code name VK5211 and by the black-market name Ligandrol, is a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) which is under development for the treatment of muscle atrophy in people with hip fracture. It w ...

. He made 6 appearances (4 starts) for Kansas City in 2019, going 0–3 with a 9.00 ERA and 4 strikeouts in 21.0 innings pitched. He was designated for assignment by the Royals on March 25, 2020. Due to the transactions freeze, Skoglund remained in DFA limbo through June. On June 28, Skoglund officially cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Omaha. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In May 2021, Skoglund underwent

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, sometimes referred to as Tommy John surgery is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's body, ...

, and missed the entire 2021 season. He was placed on the injured list of the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate in Omaha to begin the 2022 season before being activated and assigned to Double-A. On July 3, he made his return from injury, giving up two earned runs on four hits while striking out one in 1.1 innings pitched for the Naturals. He made 15 total appearances (5 starts) split between Triple-A Omaha, Double-A Northwest Arkansas, the High-A

Quad Cities River Bandits The Quad Cities River Bandits are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. Their home games are played at Modern Woodmen Park (formerly John O'Donnell Stadium) in Davenport, Iowa, on ...

, and the rookie-level

Arizona Complex League Royals The Arizona Complex League Royals are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Kansas City Royals, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona. The team is compose ...

before he was released on August 10.

Coaching career

In June 2023, Skoglund was hired to serve as the head pitching coach at the

New College of Florida New College of Florida is a public university, public liberal arts college in Sarasota, Florida, United States. The college is a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. New College has the smallest student enrollment in the State U ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skoglund, Eric 1992 births Living people American people of Scandinavian descent American sportspeople in doping cases Arizona Complex League Royals players Arizona League Royals players Bourne Braves players Harwich Mariners players Idaho Falls Chukars players Kansas City Royals players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players suspended for drug offenses Northwest Arkansas Naturals players Omaha Storm Chasers players Baseball players from Sarasota, Florida UCF Knights baseball players Wilmington Blue Rocks players Sarasota High School alumni