Red Sox Address Pitcher's 'Hurtful,' Homophobic 2021 Tweet

When the Red Sox brought a minor league pitcher to the team earlier this year, he arrived with baggage: a homophobic tweet from 2021 that the team is now addressing.

The Sox signed former Triple-A Worcester pitcher Matt Dermody in January, but controversy lingered around the player as he took the field for his first game with the Sox on June 8, with the team facing off against the Guardians.

"The 32-year-old journeyman sent an anti-gay message on Twitter in 2021, while he was pitching in Japan," Boston news station WCVB reported.

Posted to Twitter during Pride month in 2021, Dermody's message read: "#PrideMonth. Homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God. They will go to Hell."

"This is not my opinion but the #Truth," Dermody's tweet continued. "Read 1 Corinthians 6:9. May we all examine our hearts, ask Jesus to forgive us and repent of all our sins."

"I love you all in Christ Jesus!" the message added.

The post was "subsequently deleted but not before being recorded by others," WCVB noted.

The Red Sox are now working to put the controversy behind them. The team's president, Sam Kennedy, said in a statement, "What Matt posted in 2021 was hurtful – and we addressed this with him when we learned about it after he joined the Red Sox in 2023."

Kennedy added that Dermody, "along with all our minor leaguers, went through our mandatory anti-discrimination and harassment prevention training in March."

"We cannot dictate the religious beliefs or political views of our players and employees," Kennedy said, "but we do require they treat people in our organization and ballpark with respect and professionalism."

The team's manager, Alex Cora, echoed those statements.

"Obviously, not too many people agree with the tweet of Matt's," Cora told the press, ESPN reported. "I'm not here to tell him what to say or to do. But one thing for sure, when you put this uniform on, what we want is for people to be inclusive."

"Dermody gave up two of Jose Ramirez's three home runs and took the loss as the Red Sox were thumped 10-3 by the Guardians," ESPN noted. "Afterward, Dermody expressed some remorse for his actions."

"I do regret the tweet in the sense that it came out hurtful and it hurt a lot of people," Dermody said. "That's the last thing I want to do is hurt people. A lot of people think that I'm against a certain group of people or whatnot. But I'm for everybody making it to heaven."

To watch the WCVB news clip, follow this link.