White Sox Minor Leaguer Comás publicly comes out

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Anderson Comás, a Minor League pitcher in the White Sox organization, publicly announced on his personal Instagram account Sunday that he is gay.

Comás, 23, becomes the second player in affiliated baseball to come out as gay while active, with Milwaukee's David Denson doing so in 2015.

In the Instagram post, Comás described himself as proudly and happily part of the LGBTQ+ community.

"I'm doing this cause I wanna be an inspiration for those like me out there [fighting] for their dreams," Comás wrote.

He continued: "Fight for your dreams. Believe in yourself and go for it."

The White Sox issued a statement from Chris Getz, the team's assistant general manager of player development, in strong support of Comás.

"Anderson first shared his news with us last year," Getz said. "And I was very pleased that he was comfortable sharing with us in player development.

"I also was happy at the reaction across the organization, which as you would expect was to support, help and congratulate a teammate. With his social media post today, we all are so proud of Anderson and that he is comfortable sharing such an important personal part of his life so openly."

Billy Bean, MLB’s senior vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion, also issued a statement of support.

“I’m proud of Anderson’s courage in sharing something so personal with the baseball community, and I’m grateful that the Chicago White Sox have provided Anderson with an accepting and inclusive environment allowing him to pursue his dream of becoming a Major Leaguer while being his true and authentic self.”

After playing parts of four Minor League seasons as a left-handed-hitting, left-handed-throwing outfielder, Comás was switched to the mound prior to last season. He struck out 13 over 11 1/3 innings for the Arizona White Sox, while walking 11 with a 6.35 ERA. A native of San Cristobal in the Dominican Republic, Comás signed with the White Sox as an amateur free agent in 2016.