Name: Anderson Comás, 23

Bio: A native of the Dominican Republic, Comás began his professional baseball career at age 16 when he signed with the Chicago White Sox. After a few years in the outfield, the Sox re-evaluated the 6’7” lefty’s skillset and decided to convert him into a pitcher for the 2022 season.

Heading into the 2023 campaign, Comás hoped to perform well enough on the mound to earn a promotion from the Arizona Complex League to a Class A minor league team.

Coming Out: For all the strides Major League Baseball has made to welcome the LGBTQ+ community over the past decade, the fact remains that no active big leaguer has ever come out during his playing career. Trailblazer Glenn Burke never announced he was gay to the public (but he also didn’t conceal his sexuality from teammates), while Billy Bean and TJ House didn’t come out to the world at large until after they had retired.

But despite overwhelming odds that at least one current MLB player is LGBTQ+, coming out stories at the Major League level happen as often as Colorado Rockies world championships (that would be never).

So it’s been left to minor leaguers like Solomon Bates, Kieran Lovegrove, and David Denson to demonstrate that a current player can come out and find acceptance. This past February, Comás joined their ranks when he posted an inspiring message on his Instagram revealing to fans he’s gay.

Displaying immense pride, self confidence, and even a bit of defiance, Comás announced, “I’m proudly and happily part of the LGBTQ+ community.”

He further declared, “I just wanna say something to those people that say gay people can not be someone in this life, well look at me, I’m gay and I’m a professional athlete, so that didn’t [stop] me to make my dreams come true…”

Once Comás uploaded his message, then-White Sox Assistant General Manager Chris Getz shared that he had come out to the Sox during the previous season and that he had the team’s full and unequivocal backing.

“I was also happy at the reaction across the organization, which as you would expect, was to support, help, and congratulate a teammate,” Getz said.

After beginning the season in extended spring training, Comás split 2023 between the White Sox Class A affiliates Kannapolis Cannon Ballers and Winston-Salem Dash. Appropriately enough, he made his Kannapolis debut during Cannon Ballers Pride Night on July 7.

Most LGBTQ+ baseball fans commemorate Pride Nights with a rainbow fanny pack or a fireworks show. Comás celebrated by collecting his first two strikeouts.

His devastating slider proved hellacious for left-handed batters to handle, as Comás wiped out the first batter he faced for a swinging strike three before painting the outside corner with it to generate his second K.

Overall, he appeared in 17 games as a relief pitcher, putting up a sterling 1.38 ERA with 30 strikeouts in 39.0 innings pitched.

He also found the acceptance and support he was looking for after coming out, telling The Athletic’s James Fegan, “They really love me here because I’ve been very respectful with my teammates and all my coaches. My teammates and coaches that knew about me, they never changed themselves just because I was gay. They treated me the same. That made me feel comfortable about it.”

After such an encouraging season, hopefully Comás has put himself on track for a promotion to AA in 2024 and on the radar for an eventual job in the White Sox bullpen. Becoming the first publicly out gay player to be promoted to the major leagues in the next couple of years would be an even more impressive way to celebrate Pride.

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