Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista delivered his expected comment on the recent remarks from former ESPN broadcaster Colin Cowherd.

Bautista took to Twitter prior to the Jays' Friday night match-up with the Seattle Mariners to promote his expected written response:

The tweet linked to a USA Today article in which Bautista responded directly to Cowherd's disparaging on-air comments towards Bautista's home, the Dominican Republic.

On Thursday night, Cowherd remarked that Miami Marlins general manager-turned manager Dan Jennings was fit to take the team's bench stating: 

"You don’t think a general manager can manage? Like it’s impossible? The game is too complex? I’ve never bought into that, ‘Baseball’s just too complex.’ Really? A third of the sport is from the Dominican Republic.’’

The comments irked Bautista, who fired directly at Cowherd via Twitter.

Cowherd then expanded on his comments Friday, stating: 

“I could have made the point without using one country, and there’s all sorts of smart people from the Dominican Republic. I could have said a third of baseball’s talent is now being furnished from countries with economic hardships, therefore educational hurdles."

Bautista fired back Friday, stating that while he appreciated Cowherd's efforts to clarify, his explanation dug the hole even deeper. His full statement read:

In regards to Colin’s comments, while I do appreciate his attempt to clarify his previous remarks I do not believe it was an acceptable one. I also want to take this opportunity to share how I feel. Not only am I proud to be from the Dominican Republic, but it is an honor to be representing the DR in Major League Baseball. 

Unfortunately there are hardships that do exist for people of every background and in some circumstances, yes there are "educational hurdles”.  However there is a difference between that and ignorance or stupidity which I believe was implied.

This is why we should be using our platforms in a positive way and one of the reasons why I started The Bautista Family Education Fund, which continues to help raise awareness and provide assistance for young athletes by providing access to higher education.  It is important that these athletes succeed on and off the field.  I also want to applaud the MLBPA and MLB's recent joint efforts to improve the access to education for ALL of our players.

Thank you for the continued support from the MLB and now out of respect to our fans, back to baseball! ​

ESPN severed ties with Cowherd on Friday in a statement which read: "Colin Cowherd’s comments over the past two days do not reflect the values of ESPN or our employees," read an ESPN statement. "Colin will no longer appear on ESPN."