Houston - Lance McCullers Jr.

With it comes a painful conversation between McCullers and his little girl.

"She asked me when she came home, 'Dad, it's like what threat? Who wants to hurt us? Who wants to hurt me?" McCullers told the Associated Press on Wednesday. “So these conversations are hard to deal with.”

McCullers is one of two Major League Baseball (MLB) pitchers who are threatened with online death this month as internet abuse players and their families are on the rise. Shortly after the incident, Boston Red Sox reliefist Liam Hendriks and McCullers sent people threatening the life of Hendriks’ wife and directing him “despicable” comments.

Following the threat to McCullers, the Astronauts contacted the Major League Baseball Department of Security and the Houston Police Department. A police spokesman said Thursday that it remains an ongoing investigation.

McCullers, who had two young daughters, took action immediately after the threat and hired the family for 24 hours of safety.

"You have to do that then," he said.

League players agree that online abuse has gradually become worse and worse in recent years. Christian Yelich of Milwaukee, a 13-year veteran and 2018 National League MVP, said online abuse is "a nightly thing" for most players.

"I think over the last few years, it will definitely increase," he said. "It has increased to you just: 'Okay, we're leaving.' I'm not signing up on your radar anymore.

Many players believe this is directly related to the rise of legal sports betting.

"You get a lot of DM or something like that because you ruined someone's bet or something absurd like that," said veteran rescuer Justin Wilson. "I think they should be better off."

Hendriks, a 36-year-old reliefist who had previously been treated for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, said on Instagram that he and his wife lost the death threat with the New York Mets. He added that people commented that they hoped he would die of cancer, among other abuse comments.

"It's enough," he said. "Like at some point, everyone likes to suck and handle it and doesn't accomplish anything. We go through security. We pass on anyone who needs it to anyone who we need it, but nothing happens in the end. The next night, it happens again.

"So, at some point, someone has to stand. It's one of them, the more we have eyes on it, the more we talk about it, and hopefully it pushes in the right direction."

Astros and Red Sox are working with MLB Security to take action against social media users who will threaten players and their families. Red Sox spokesman Abby Murphy said in recent years they have taken measures to ensure the players’ families are safe during the game. These include security personnel and Boston police stationed in the family department of the family, as well as the travel party’s dedicated security to monitor the family section on the road.

“I think over the last few years, it will certainly increase. That has increased to you just: ‘Okay, we’re leaving.’ I’m not signing up on your radar anymore.

Christian Yelich, about players receiving threat information

Murphy said it was difficult to identify those who threatened anonymity online, but “the Red Sox and MLB have online plans and analysts dedicated to identifying and deleting these accounts.”

Astronauts have developed police stationed in the family department, which is implemented before threats that threaten McCulles and his family.

For some players, online abuse has become so bad that they give up on social media. Detroit Tigers All-Star outfielder Riley Greene said he left social media because he received news from many people blaming him for failing bets.

“I deleted it,” he said of Instagram. "I left. It's suck, but it's the world we live in and we can't do anything about it. People will DM me say something annoying, tell me how bad I'm, how bad I'm, say something annoying that we don't want to hear."

The 31-year-old McCullers, who returned after missing two full-season injuries, said dealing with it was the worst thing that has happened in his career. He knows the enthusiasm of fans and knows that being criticized for his poor performance is part of the game. But he believes that there is a "moral boundary" that fans should not cross.

“People should want us to succeed,” he said. “We want to succeed, but it should not pay for our families, the children in our lives, and have to feel unsafe in their residence or in the place where they are playing.”

Astronaut manager Joe Espada felt very angry when he learned about the threat from McCullers and his family, and he was obviously frustrated when he spoke to reporters.

Espada said the team has mental health professionals that allow players to talk about the loss of this abuse to them and any other issues they may have to deal with.

“We realized that when we stepped onto the court, fans expect that we would expect that we would be the best,” Espada said this week. “But when we try to do our best and when we try to give you everything, things don’t go, and now you’re going to threaten our family and children – now I do have a big problem, right? I just don’t like it.”

Salvador Perez of Kansas City is a 14-year Major League Baseball veteran who has not experienced online abuse but is shocked by what happened to McCullers. If something like this happens to him, he says it will change the way he interacts with his fans.

"There are some fans now, real fans, and they will pay for that, too," he said. "Because if I were him, I wouldn't have signed or signed anything for no one because of that day."

McCullers won't go that far, but admits that it has changed his mindset.

"It really makes you a little bombarded," he said. "It really makes places you don't want to go. I guess it might just be human reaction to it."

Although most players have dealt with some level of online abuse throughout their careers, no one has a good idea about how to stop it.

"I'm grateful that I didn't find a solution," Tigers pitcher Tyler Holton said. "But as someone involved, I hope it's not a topic of conversation."

Chicago White Sox outfielder Mike Tauchman is frustrated by the player abuse. While it's mostly online, he says his teammates yell at them during the game with racism and homophobia.

"I really can't see it getting better before it keeps getting worse, except without social media," he said. "I mean, I think it's a kind of thing that's right now. Like, people feel like they have the right to say anything they want to anyone who wants, and that's behind the keyboard and it really has no impact, right?"