Houston police are investigating alleged death threats against Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. and his family.
According to ESPN, McCullers received death threats through social media messages following a bad outing. The unidentified online sports betting enthusiast admitted to betting on the game. He lost money on the game and claimed he was drunk when he sent the messages.
Then, the gambler apologized and asked his apology is forwarded to McCullers.
Gambler Made Threats To Family
On May 10, McCullers started against the Cincinnati Reds. The Astros pitcher recorded just one out and while giving up seven runs. Thanks mostly to the first inning results, the Reds scored an upset win 13-9. The gamblers sent the threats after the game.
McCullers spoke about the threats afterwards and claimed they included references to his family.
“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 going to stab my kids to death, things like that, it’s tough to hear as a dad.”
Team Hired Security Following The Messages
After the incident, the team hired 24-hour security for McCullers and his family. Several MLB players told ESPN that these types of threats are on the rise as legalized sports betting has become more available in states across the country.
“I think over the last few years it’s definitely increased,” Milwaukee’s Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich told ESPN. “It’s increased to the point that you’re just, ‘All right, here we go.’ It doesn’t even really register on your radar anymore. I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing. You’re just so used to that on a day-to-day, night-to-night basis. It’s not just me. It’s everybody in here, based on performance.”
Other sports have faced similar incidents. Last year, NCAA officials encouraged states to drop prop bets on college athletes after participants frequently faced harassment from bettors. In 2023, former NFL Vice President of Officiating Dean Blandino said that officials were often approached about swaying games to favor gamblers.
