Kopech removes 'immature' content from Twitter

Michael Kopech told the Chicago Sun-Times on Thursday that he has deleted racist and anti-gay tweets from when he was a 17-year-old that surfaced earlier this week.

Chicago White Sox rookie Michael Kopech told the Chicago Sun-Times on Thursday that he has deleted racist and anti-gay tweets from when he was a 17-year-old that surfaced earlier this week.

"Yeah, I had to delete some stuff," Kopech told the newspaper. "Things I said that were immature and inappropriate. I used some poor language there. Obviously, I'm trying to be looked at as a role model and the last thing I want to do is have some kid look at what I'm saying and take it the wrong way.

"It's unfortunate that I was ever at that point mentally, but it's not who I am now. Yeah, I cleaned some tweets up and tried to get rid of them. But, obviously, people saw them. It's not who I am now and it's not who I want to be. It was something I did in high school, and with everything I've gone through in pro ball the last five seasons, I feel like a big part of my career was maturing. Hate to see it, but it's not who I am anymore."

Kopech joins Milwaukee Brewers reliever Josh Hader, Atlanta Braves starter Sean Newcomb, and Washington Nationals shortstop Trea Turner as young major league stars to have insensitive tweets from their past resurface.

Kopech, 22, made his major league debut Tuesday against the Minnesota Twins. The right-hander struck out four in two scoreless innings before a rain delay cut his outing short.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)