Astros’ Lance McCullers Jr. says his children got death threats after bad play

Houston Astros Pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. Speaks out after dissatisfied fans on social media are said to have sent death threats to him and his family in response to a bad pitching performance on Saturday, May 10.

Astro’s right hand told reporters that he received messages on social media aimed at him and his family, some specifically aimed at him and his wife Kara’s two young daughters.

“I understand that people are very passionate and people love Astros and love sports, but threaten to find my kids and murder them is a bit tough to deal with just like a father, I think,” said McCullers, 31, to reporters after Astros 13-9 loss against Cincinnati Reds, according to ESPN.

“So just like a father, I think there have been many, many threats over the years addressed to me, mostly, and I actually believe that one or two people from other questions about baseball actually had to go to prison for such things,” McCullers continued. “But I think taking the children in the equation, threatening to find them or the next time they see us in public, they will stick my children to death, things like that, it’s hard to hear as a father.”

Astros -Manager Joe Espada was “visibly upset” when he talked about the situation after the match, according to ESPN.

“There are people who threaten his life and his children’s life because of his performance,” Espada said. “It is very unfortunate that we have to deal with this. After all, he is done for this city, for his team, the fact that we have to talk about it in my office – I had children too, and it really drives me nuts that we have to deal with this. Very sad. Very sad.”

Espada added: “Listen, he hasn’t beaten for 2½ years. It will take some time to get him up and so. And that’s good. But it can’t happen. I’m really upset that this can happen to athletes.”

McCullers has been in the Astro’s organization for more than a decade, made its large league debut with the team in 2015 and later became a key member of Houston’s World Series-winning team in 2017 and 2022.

McCullers, son of the former MLB janca Lance McCullers SR., was named MLB All-Star 2017 and later became a tab as Astros starting jug in Game 7 in the World Series that season.

Injuries have been tormenting McCuller’s career since he underwent Tommy John operation in 2018 before returning to Haugen in 2020.

He helped the team win a second championship 2022, but then missed the seasons 2023 and 2024 with another right arm injury. McCullers returned to Haugen on May 4 for the first time in more than two seasons and threw almost four speechless innings in his season debut against Chicago White Sox.

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McCullers, however, fought against the red on Saturday and gave up seven runs in the first round before Espada removed him from the game. Afterwards, McCuller’s fans’ inability regretted to treat players with “decency” as people.

“If you fail, you fail on a very big stage (with) many eyes, and there is nowhere to hide,” McCullers said after the match. “At the end of the day, I just want to do my job. I just want to be a good jug for Astros, and I think I will be getting there. But as I said, I just think I have to worry about it, worry about leaving the city and leaving them and things like it or drop her in school, I just think … It should be some kind of decency.”