New York Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes apologized and deactivated his Twitter account Monday after old tweets he wrote about a decade ago surfaced online Sunday. 

The tweets included the use of racial slurs, and Cortes said he wrote them when he was a teenager. 

“I felt like it wasn’t the right message that I wanted to send out when I was 17 years old,” the left-hander said before Monday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles. “Those happened 10 years ago. I deactivated my Twitter to clean stuff up.”

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New York Yankees starting pitcher Nestor Cortes throws against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning of a baseball game in Chicago, Sunday, May 15, 2022. 
(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

“It’s not acceptable,” he added. “I think I could have managed myself and said stuff differently. But I’m here today to say that I’m going to work on it and fix it.”

Cortes reportedly learned his old tweets were dug up after he allowed just three hits and struck out seven in a win over the Chicago White Sox Sunday. After seeing the screenshots, Cortes said he was “a little pissed off at myself for that stuff.”

New York Yankees starting pitcher Nestor Cortes (65) looks on after pitching eight innings during a Major League Baseball game between the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox on May 15, 2022, at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago, IL.
(Photo by Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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“I like to attract all the kids and maybe people who look at themselves like me, not the prototype, not the 6-foot-5, the 97 mph,” he said, via NJ.com. “Hopefully I can start sending better messages.”

It appeared that Cortes was quoting rap lyrics in some of his tweets, and they did not seem to target a specific individual. 

Cortes has been electric this season for the Yankees, posting a 1.35 ERA after seven starts. 

Starting pitcher Nestor Cortes #65 of the New York Yankees reacts after finishing the eighth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on May 15, 2022, in Chicago, Illinois. 
(Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)

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He had a breakthrough season in 2021, in which he sported a 2.90 ERA in 14 starts, along with 103 strikeouts. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report