Pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. and family targeted by overseas bettor on social media

The Houston Police Department has identified the intoxicated bettor sending social media threats to Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. and his family.

A man has admitted to the Houston Police Department that he was behind social media threats being sent to the pitcher, as well as his family. He said that he had been gambling on an Astros game, lost money, and sent the threats out of frustration while drunk.

He has now apologized and asked that this also be passed on to the McCullers family. The messages sent to McCullers included threats to “find my kids and murder them”, according to the pitcher, coming through after his start against the Cincinnati Reds on May 10.

Although a spokesperson for the department declined to identify the person to the press so far, they did assert that no charges had been filed.

In his second game since coming back from a more than two-year absence following arm surgery, McCullers gave up seven runs in the first inning.

“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,” McCullers told reporters after receiving the threats, as reported by ESPN.

McCullers also told the Associated Press that his five-year-old daughter overheard his wife, Kara, talking about the threats on the phone, sparking fears in the young girl.

“She asked me when I came home, ‘Daddy, like, what is threats? Who wants to hurt us? Who wants to hurt me?'” he said.

Out of concern for the family’s safety, the Astros hired 24-hour security for McCullers and his family following the threats.

The McCullers are not alone in such experiences unfortunately, with Boston Red Sox reliever Liam Hendriks recently opening up on his Instagram Stories about death threats directed at himself and his wife.

“Threats against my life and my wife’s life are horrible and cruel,” wrote Hendriks, who missed nearly two years of playing while battling non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and recovering from Tommy John surgery. “You need help.

“Comments telling me to commit suicide and how you wish I died from cancer is disgusting and vile. Maybe you should take a step back and re-evaluate your life’s purpose before hiding behind a screen attacking players and their families.”

Multiple MLB players told the Associated Press that they have experienced an increase in online threats in recent times, with some asserting that they believe it’s linked to the rise of legal sports betting in the US.

Featured image: Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

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