Two Cleveland Guardians pitchers have been hit with criminal charges in connection with what U.S. law enforcement says is their “alleged roles in a scheme to rig bets on pitches thrown” during Major League Baseball games.
Key Takeaways
- Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz have been charged with multiple federal crimes for allegedly participating in a scheme to rig bets on specific MLB pitches.
- Prosecutors claim the players accepted bribes from gamblers in exchange for throwing certain pitches, enabling fraudulent wagers based on insider information.
- Both pitchers face potential sentences of up to 65 years in prison if convicted, though they remain presumed innocent as the case proceeds.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York announced on Sunday that an indictment had been unsealed charging Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz with wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery, and money laundering conspiracy.
Ortiz, a press release said, was arrested in Boston and will appear in a federal court there on Monday. Ortiz will be arraigned in New York at a later date. Clase, meanwhile, is not currently in U.S. custody, the release added. Both pitchers were placed on nondisciplinary paid leave this summer.
The charges and allegations have not yet been proven in court and the defendants are presumed innocent “unless and until” proven guilty,” the government says. However, the two pitchers face maximum sentences of 65 years in jail if convicted on all the charges.
“Professional athletes, like Luis Leandro Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase de la Cruz hold a position of trust – not only with their teammates and their professional leagues, but with fans who believe in fair play,” said Joseph Nocella, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District, in a statement.
“As alleged, the defendants sold that trust to gamblers by fixing pitches. In doing so, the defendants deprived the Cleveland Guardians and Major League Baseball of their honest services. They defrauded the online betting platforms where the bets were placed. And they betrayed America’s pastime.”
The two pitchers and their co-conspirators worked out specific pitches that would be thrown during games, according to an indictment. The co-conspirators then used the information to make “hundreds of fraudulent bets” on those pitches.
Clase is alleged to have worked with the “corrupt sports bettors” beginning in or around May 2023 “to rig proposition bets – or ‘prop’ bets – on particular pitches he threw,” the press release added. The bettors then allegedly wagered on the speed and type of Clase’s pitches, which were often the first of an at-bat.
“To ensure certain pitches were called as balls, Clase threw many of them in the dirt, well outside the strike zone,” the press release says. “The bettors used the advanced, inside information that Clase provided about his future pitches to wager thousands of dollars at online sportsbooks.”
Emmanuel Clase’s first pitch against Max Kepler on May 11 was mentioned in the Department of Justice Indictment against Clase and Ortiz. https://t.co/5PCgKpNtaY pic.twitter.com/xDeNCFqtQf
— Phillies Tailgate (@PhilsTailgate) November 9, 2025
In return, Clase allegedly received “bribes and kickbacks” from the bettors, and sometimes even advanced the bettors money.
Ortiz then allegedly joined the “criminal scheme” in or around June 2025, the release says.
MLB's investigation into Luis Ortiz is about these two individual pitches which received action flagged by a betting-integrity firm, per @JeffPassan pic.twitter.com/2zvZhmrTlJ
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) July 3, 2025
“Together with Clase, Ortiz agreed in advance to throw balls (instead of strikes) on pitches in two games in exchange for bribes and kickbacks,” it adds. “Before an MLB game on June 15, 2025, Ortiz agreed with his co-conspirators to throw a ball on a particular pitch in exchange for bribes. The bettors agreed to pay Ortiz a $5,000 bribe for throwing the rigged pitch and Clase a $5,000 bribe for arranging the rigged pitch.”
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
