Last week, Solomon Bates came out publicly as gay in an Instagram post (see below). His announcement came after his release by the San Francisco Giants. Just two days later, he signed with the Sioux City Explorers of the independent American Association of Professional Baseball
Bates, a 25-year old pitcher from California, was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in 2018 out of the University of Southern California. He was assigned to the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes of the short season Norwest League in 2018 and then began the 2019 season with the class A August GreenJackets before moving to the San Jose Giants, San Francisco’s high-A affiliate at the time.
After a mid-2019 injury and the 2020 shutdown of the minor leagues (due to Covid-19) slowed his progression, Bates was assigned to the Giants’ new high-A affiliate, the Eugene Emeralds, for the 2021 season and promoted to the double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels in 2022. After another stint on the Injured List and a rehab assignment with the Arizona Complex League, Bates returned to the Squirrels on June 28, 2022. In 23 games with Richmond this year, Bates had a 4-1 record with a 4.02 ERA. Nonetheless, the Giants released him on August 9.
Bates initially came out to his teammates in 2019. According to Sports Illustrated, Bates is the second minor leaguer to come out as gay. David Denson announced he was gay to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel while playing for the Helena Brewers.
Good luck in Sioux City, Solomon! Keep on breaking barriers!