Anderson Comas might be the most famous minor-leaguer you’ve never heard of.
Comas, 23, is in his second season of making the transition from outfielder to left-handed pitcher in the White Sox’ organization. The 6-3, 185-pounder from the Dominican Republic is a sixth-year pro after signing as a 16-year-old in 2016 and hasn’t played above Single-A.
But social media — and newspapers ranging from the Guardian in Great Britain to the New York Times to USA Today — took notice when Comas came out as gay in an Instagram post in February, writing: ‘‘I am proudly and happily part of the LGBTQ+ community.’’
On Friday, the second day of Pride Month, he talked about how his life has changed — and how it hasn’t — since he joined the small number of openly gay pro athletes.
‘‘It’s been great,’’ Comas said in a Zoom call with reporters from Arizona. ‘‘Nothing changed here because my teammates, my coaches, some of them knew. . . . They were great about it. They really love me here because I’ve been very respectful with my teammates and coaches.’’
In fact, Comas’ coming-out process began last season. The first person he opened up to was Erin Santana, the Sox’ manager of international player development and education. Or, as Comas described her, ‘‘the mom of Latinos here.’’
‘‘I told her, ‘I’m going to do this, what do you think?’ ’’ Comas said. ‘‘And she loved it. I shared my story with her first because I was really comfortable with her.’’
By the time spring training rolled around this year, Comas was comfortable enough to open up to a wider audience.
‘‘I wanted to help people out there,’’ he said, ‘‘those people who don’t feel like they have the support, even [from] their family. I wanted to open that door for those people that are fighting for their dreams. . . . I wanted to share a little bit to help . . . to inspire all of them to keep fighting.’’
Besides the international media attention, Comas said he received around 1,000 Instagram messages ‘‘from people still in the closet. But they were happy I did that. They were feeling better about it. They were happy to see people out there for them to feel better about themselves. It made me feel like I did a good thing.’’
Comas is thought to be the third player from the affiliated minor leagues to come out as gay while active, following David Denson from the Brewers’ farm system in 2015 and Solomon Bates from the Giants’ farm system last year.
There still hasn’t been an openly gay major-league player, and only three have come out after their careers were over, according to the Outsports website: Glenn Burke in 1982, Billy Bean in 1999 and T.J. House in December.
But Comas said he has seen a change in attitude during the course of his own career.
‘‘At first, because I was young and I was not yet out to my family or friends, I was afraid about people to know that about me,’’ he said. ‘‘Now it’s getting a lot better. I decided to do it because now it’s 2023. People are changing, and now I feel comfortable about that. . . . I waited for the right time.’’
