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Houston Astros Pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. said his team’s fans have turned him on the worst way.
After a tough start on Saturday, where he allowed seven earned races on only one-third of an inning beaten against Cincinnati Reds, McCullers said he received death threats from Astros fans online.
“I understand that people are very passionate and people love Astros and Love Sports, but threatening to find my children and murder them is a little difficult to handle,” said the 31-year-old right-hand man. “So, like a father, I think there have been many, many threats over the years that are mostly aimed at me, and I think actually one or two people from other questions about baseball actually had to go to jail for things like that.
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Houston Astros Starting pot Lance McCullers Jr. Going away from Haugen after a pitching change during the first lap against Cincinnati Reds in Daikin Park. (Troy Taormina-Preferred Pictures)
“But I think that bringing children into the equation threatens to find them or the next time they see us in public, they will put my children to death, similar things, it’s hard to hear as a father.”
The Houston Police Department and MLB Security have both been warned of the threats to McCullers, the organization said.
This was only McCullers’ second start for Astros since the 2022 World Series as he has fought through several injuries over the past two seasons.
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It was disastrous from the start when Elly de la Cruz hit a three-run Homer after McCullers walked TJ Friedl and hit Matt McLain with a pitch to start the game. McCullers got one out after the home run, but two walks and two hits after it quickly turned the game to a 5-0 lead.
Manager Joe Espada had to pull the plug on McCullers, but the bass runners on the second and third were still his responsibility. They encountered later in the 10-race first inning for Cincinnati.
Houston Astros Starting pot Lance McCullers Jr. Going away from Haugen after a pitching change during the Cincinnati Reds game at Daikin Park. (Troy Taormina-Preferred Pictures)
Espada also talked about the death threats against his veteran starter.
“There are people who threaten his life and his children’s life because of his performance,” Espada explained. “It is very unfortunate that we have to tackle this. After all, he has done for this city, for his team, the fact that we have to talk about it in my office – I also had children, and it really drives me nuts that we have to tackle this. Very sad, very, very sad.”
McCullers is a two-time world champion trying to find consistency on the haug again. His injury problems began in spring training in 2023 when a muscle strain in his pitching arm closed him down. Then, in June of that year, he underwent seasonal surgery to repair a flexor-sen in the arm and remove a bone pile.
McCullers’ rehabilitation did not go as planned either. In July 2024 he was shut down from throwing, and it was announced that he would miss the whole season. He would finally get his chance back on the haug on May 4, where he threw three scoreless innings against Chicago White Sox.
Houston Astros Start Pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. responds to a pitch to Cincinnati Reds in Daikin Park. (Troy Taormina-Preferred Pictures)
“If you fail, you fail on a very big scene (with) many eyes and there is nowhere to hide,” McCullers added. “At the end of the day, I just want to do my job. I just want to be a good pitcher for astros, and I think I get there. But as I said, I just think that having to worry about it, worry about leaving town and leaving them and similar things or dropping her in school, I just think … there must be some kind of deceence.”
McCullers, who made the All-Star team in 2017, owns a career 3.55 era with Astros, even after his rough excursion on Saturday. He also has a 3.47 era in 19 postal season matches, all with Houston.
