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Cleveland Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz has pleaded not guilty to charges that he accepted bribes in exchange for ensuring players won bets on their pitches.
Ortiz, 26, appeared in federal court in Brooklyn on Wednesday after being arrested Sunday at Boston’s Logan International Airport.
Ortiz has been released on $500,000 bail until his next court date in December. He is subject to GPS tracking and was ordered to limit his travel to New York, Massachusetts and Ohio.
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Cleveland Guardians starter Luis Ortiz (45) celebrates during the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Progressive Field on May 30, 2025. (Ken Blaze/Image Images)
His Guardians teammate Emmanuel Clase has also been accused of the alleged scheme.
Class will be arraigned in the same court on Thursday.
“Emmanuel Clase has dedicated his life to baseball and has done everything in his power to help his team win,” Clase’s attorney, Michael Ferrara, said in an emailed statement Wednesday.
MLB placed Ortiz and Clase on non-disciplinary paid leave due to a gambling investigation on July 3. When approached by Pak Gazette Digital for an update on the investigation on October 22, MLB directed Pak Gazette Digital to a statement from August.
“MLB contacted federal law enforcement at the beginning of its investigation and has cooperated fully throughout the process. We are aware of the allegation and today’s arrest, and our investigation is ongoing,” MLB’s Sunday statement read.
Clase and Ortiz “conspired with bettors to manipulate pitches in professional baseball games so that bettors would profit from illegal bets made based on that inside information,” the indictment said. “The defendants agreed in advance with their co-conspirators to throw specific types and velocities of pitchers, and their co-conspirators used that inside information to place bets on those pitches.
“In some cases, the defendants received bribes and kickback payments – funneled through third parties – in exchange for rigging pitches. Through this scheme, the defendants defrauded betting platforms, deprived Major League Baseball and the Cleveland Guardians of their honest services, illegally enriched themselves and their co-conspirators, deceived the public, and betrayed America’s past.”
GUARDIANS PITCHERS CHARGED IN BETTING SCHEME INVOLVING MLB GAMES
Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz remain on leave amid a betting investigation as the World Series approaches. (David Dermer and Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn)
Officials said in the indictment that from May 2023 to June 2025, Clase agreed with a co-conspirator to “make specific pitches in certain MLB games” so that bettors they were allegedly associated with “would profit from illegal bets placed based on that inside information.” Ortiz allegedly joined the scheme in June 2025.
The indictment says Clase conferred with a punter by throwing a ball on the first pitch of an at-bat when he was brought into games in relief. The indictment noted cases in the following games, including May 19, 2023 against the New York Mets, June 2, 2023 against the Minnesota Twins and June 7, 2023 against the Boston Red Sox.
Clase allegedly began soliciting and receiving bribes and kickback payments for agreeing to make specific pitches in April, according to the indictment. In one case, the indictment said Clase used his phone in the middle of a game to coordinate with a bettor about a pitch he would make.
Bettors reportedly won $400,000 on betting platforms with pitchers pitched by Clase between 2023 and 2025.
When Ortiz allegedly joined the scheme, the indictment says he agreed to throw balls for strikes at certain pitches in exchange for bribes or kickbacks. He allegedly agreed to pitch a ball on June 15 against the Seattle Mariners for around $5,000 on his first pitch in the second inning.
The indictment says Ortiz agreed to throw a ball on his first pitch of the third inning on June 27 against the St. Louis Cardinals for $7,000.
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Luis Ortiz of the Cleveland Guardians pitches in the first inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins in Cleveland, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)
In June 2025, bettors won at least $60,000 on pitches made by Ortiz.
The announcement of the indictment came weeks after three NBA figures were implicated in an FBI operation involving illegal gambling. Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier and Damon Jones were among more than two dozen arrested in the scheme.
