Houston pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. said he received online death threats directed at his children after his tough start Saturday night against the Cincinnati Reds.
McCullers, who was making just his second start since Game 3 of the 2022 World Series, allowed seven runs while getting just one out in Houston's 13-9 loss .
Afterward, McCullers said he had received the threats on social media.
"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," he said. "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. But I think bringing kids into the equation, threatening to find them or next time they see us in public, they're gonna stab my kids to death, things like that, it's tough to hear as a dad."
The Astros said that the Houston Police Department and MLB security had been alerted to the threats.