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Over the course of the last year or two we've read reports of athletes being taunted online, and even during games, for failing to meet established performance numbers set by oddsmakers. This has resulted in a number of states now prohibiting sportsbooks from offering college player prop bets.
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News that Houston Astros right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. said he and his family were the subjects of death threats made on social media after he allowed seven runs as part of a 10-run first inning for the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday night certainly led some to question whether sports wagering played a role in this behavior.
So far no motive has been established and, as of now, there is no publicly reported evidence linking sports betting to the recent threats. What is clear, however, is that the incident underscores the broader issue of how online platforms can be misused to target athletes, as well as their family members.
McCullers (0-1) was making just his second start since Game 3 of the 2022 World Series after battling a series of right arm issues. An All-Star in 2018, he has spent all eight of his big league seasons in Houston.
"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 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."
McCullers and his wife, Kara, have two young daughters.
A visibly upset manager Joe Espada addressed the threats at his postgame news conference.
"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.
"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."
Action was mostly balanced on the Reds-Astros game Saturday with the moneyline dropping only slightly from -135 to -124 favoring Houston. The total moved from 7.5 to 8 with the Over coming through strong but action balanced.
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