Lance McCullers Jr. is a baseball player who plays in MLB for the Houston Astros. He made his debut in 2015 and so far in his professional career starting not so long ago, he has won the World Series. His success in sports was not isolated, his father, Lance McCullers Sr., not only played baseball but also had a professional career in MLB. Here is everything to know about him.
Bio and Age
The Astros starting pitcher was born Lance GrayeMcCullers Jr. on October 2, 1993 in Tampa, Florida to the family of Lance McCullers Sr and Stacie McCullers. Like most players who go far in any sport, Lance started playing at an early age thanks to his father who, as we saw above, was also a baseball player.
The McCullers spent seven seasons in MLB as pitcher for the San Diego Padres from 1985 to 1988, New York Yankees from 1989 to 1990, Detroit Tigers in 1990, then Texas Rangers in 1992. He retired a year before the birth of his son. Nonetheless, the one thing he wanted for his child as he grew up was just to play and play baseball without any pressure. He therefore made no reference to his days at the game.
Even though Lance McCullers Jr’s main sport had always been baseball, he also played football with his friend José Fernandez who he played baseball with since they were both in high school. Unfortunately, Jose Fernandez, also a member of MLB, died in 2016 following a boating accident. To honor him, Lance would wear his number on his shoe.
McCullers Jr. went to Jesuit High School in Tampa Florida from where he graduated. During his high school years, he was an exceptional player who, in 2012, was named Gatorade’s National Baseball Player. That year, he went 13-0 for the school team.
Without going to college, Lance McCullers Jr. decided to enter the 2012 MLB Draft and was selected by the Houston Astros as the 41st overall pick.
For his minor league career, he pitched the Midwest League Class A Quad Cities River Bandits, which won the Midwest League Championship in 2013. He was later promoted to the Midwest League Championship and played for the Lancaster JetHawks. Lance started playing in the Texas Class AA league for the Corpus Christi Hooks before qualifying for the Pacific Coast Triple-A League for the Fresno Grizzlies, then MLB, in 2015.
Since then, it’s the Houston Astros that Lance McCullers Jr. has played for. In 2017 the team won the World Series and he was named an All-Star.
Lance McCullers Jr – Wife and Parents
As stated above, the parents of Lance McCullersJr are Lance McCullers Sr. and Stacie McCullers. Apart from the fact that both men have been supportive of their son from the start, the young McCullers described his father as his best friend whom he trained and went to watch matches with as he grew up.
In 2015, he married Kara McCullers (née Kilfoile). While it’s unclear when they started dating, one of their earliest social media images showed them together in 2012. After the 2013 season, Lance took the woman who would later become his wife to Paris and proposed it.
The couple tied the knot in December 2015 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Tampa. They spent their honeymoon in Italy, where they visited cities like Rome, Florence, Venice and the Amalfi Coast.
Kara McCullers was born April 2, 1992 in Tampa, Kara Leigh Kilfoile Florida, she graduated from the University of Central Florida but later went to the University of South Florida where she earned a master’s degree in speech therapy .
Both Lance and Kara are big dog lovers. Kara describes herself on Instagram as a puppy wife and mother. True to this, most of her photos are either with her husband or with dogs. The couple are involved in animal-related charities, for which they started the Lance McCullers Jr. Foundation to raise money for the adoption of a pet.
Height and width
Apart from being a handsome man, Lance also has a good height and an athletic build. He is 6 feet 1 inch tall and weighs 205 pounds.