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Pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. is speaking out
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The Houston Astros right-hander told reporters that his family received death threats following his poor showing on the mound on Saturday, May 10
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“If you fail, you fail on a very large stage [with] a lot of eyes, and there’s nowhere to hide,” McCullers said after the game
Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. is speaking out after disgruntled fans on social media allegedly sent death threats to him and his family in response to a poor pitching performance on Saturday, May 10.
The Astros right-hander told reporters he received messages on social media directed at him and his family, some specifically targeting he and his wife Kara’s two young daughters.
“I understand people are very passionate and people love the Astros and love sports, but threatening to find my kids and murder them is a little bit tough to deal with just as a father, I think,” McCullers, 31, told reporters after the Astros’ 13-9 loss against the Cincinnati Reds, according to ESPN.
“So just as a father, I think there have been many, many threats over the years aimed at me, mostly, and I think actually one or two people from other issues around baseball actually had to go to jail for things like that,” McCullers continued. “But I think bringing kids into the equation, threatening to find them or next time they see us in public they’re going to stab my kids to death, things like that, it’s tough to hear as a dad.”
Astros manager Joe Espada was “visibly upset” when he addressed the situation after the game, according to ESPN.
“There are people who are threatening his life and the life of his kids because of his performance,” Espada said. “It is very unfortunate that we have to deal with this. After all he’s done for this city, for his team, the fact that we have to talk about that in my office — I got kids too, and it really drives me nuts that we have to deal with this. Very sad. Very, very sad.”
Espada added: “Listen, he hasn’t pitched in 2½ years. It’s going to take a little bit of time to get him going. And that’s fine. But this can’t happen. I’m really upset that this can happen to athletes.”
McCullers has been with the Astros organization for more than a decade, making his Major League debut with the team in 2015 and later becoming a key member of Houston’s World Series-winning teams in 2017 and 2022.
McCullers, the son of former MLB pitcher Lance McCullers Sr., was named an MLB All-Star in 2017 and was later tabbed as the Astros’ starting pitcher in Game 7 of the World Series that season.
Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire/Getty
Lance McCullers Jr.
Injuries have plagued McCullers’ career since, undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2018 before returning to the mound in 2020.
He helped the team win a second championship in 2022, but then missed the 2023 and 2024 seasons with another right-arm injury. McCullers returned to the mound on May 4 for the first time in more than two seasons, throwing nearly four scoreless innings in his season debut against the Chicago White Sox.
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However, McCullers struggled against the Reds on Saturday, giving up seven runs in the first inning before Espada removed him from the game. Afterwards, McCullers lamented fans’ inability to treat players with “decency” as human beings.
“If you fail, you fail on a very large stage [with] a lot of eyes, and there’s nowhere to hide,” McCullers said after the game. “At the end of the day, I just want to do my job. I just want to be a good pitcher for the Astros, and I believe I’ll get there. But like I said, I just think that having to worry about that, worry about leaving town and leaving them and things like that, or dropping her off at school, I just think … there should be some type of decency.”
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