Astros Star Lance McCullers Jr. Bounces Back From Ugly Start, Death Threats

The Houston Astros earned a huge, much-needed victory over their hated rival Texas Rangers on Friday night to tie up the series ahead of two more games in Arlington this weekend.

It was a big six-run 7th inning for Houston which carried the water offensively including a big night from struggling star first baseman Christian Walker.

To even get to that point however, the Astros needed another quality start, and it was a tough ask of Lance McCullers Jr. coming off the events of the last week.

In his start last week against the Cincinnati Reds, McCullers was able to get just one out and was charged with seven earned runs while walking three as well, but it was after the game when he revealed the ugly reality of being a professional athlete.

Heartbreakingly, McCullers told media he and his family had received death threats in wake of his poor performance and that the lives of his children were threatened.

Instead of understandably packing it in though, the embattled veteran came out on Friday and tossed four innings, allowing two runs but neither of them being earned.

It was far from the vintage All-Star version Houston has gotten out of McCullers in years past, but the 31-year-old is still working his way back from effectively three full years of injuries.

Is Lance McCullers Jr. Capable of Helping Houston Astros This Season?

Nobody is expecting the right-hander to suddenly be a Cy Young candidate again, but if he can be a capable, back-of-rotation guy who can give four to five quality innings when he takes the hill, this will absolutely provide a boost.

This is the exact type of pitcher McCullers showed himself to still be on Friday night and after it looked like his career may be over multiple times in the last couple of years, the Astros will take that.

Though it would be nice, they certainly do not need him to be an ace or really anything close, they have a few of them already.

But as this team's pitching works it way back from injuries which continue to stack up, being able to rely on McCullers to provide some sort of stability in the back end would be extremely valuable.

He clearly still has a ways to go, however Friday night was a sign of progress being made and should give fans hope that McCullers still has something left in the tank.