Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz are facing charges for allegedly accepting bribes from sports bettors to manipulate their pitching during games. The indictment, revealed in federal court in Brooklyn, suggests that Clase and Ortiz assisted bettors from the Dominican Republic in winning prop bets related to pitch speed and outcomes by deliberately throwing certain pitches inaccurately, such as slower pitches or balls outside the strike zone.
Both players have been on paid leave without disciplinary action since July as Major League Baseball looked into abnormally high betting activities during their games. Ortiz, 26, was arrested at Boston Logan International Airport by the FBI and is scheduled to appear in a Boston federal court on Monday. Clase, 27, is currently not in custody.
Legal representatives for Ortiz and Clase have refrained from providing comments at this time. The two pitchers are facing charges including wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sports contests through bribery, and money laundering conspiracy. If convicted, they could potentially face up to 20 years in prison for the most severe charges.
These allegations against Clase and Ortiz are part of a broader crackdown on illegal betting in professional sports. The sports industry has been particularly vigilant about such scandals since a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision that paved the way for more widespread sports betting. Last month, over 30 individuals, including notable basketball figures like Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier, were apprehended in a gambling investigation that rocked the NBA.
Major League Baseball has stated that it promptly engaged federal law enforcement upon discovering the suspicious betting patterns and has been fully cooperative in the investigation. The Cleveland Guardians have also pledged full cooperation with authorities and MLB as the inquiries progress.