ESPN.com has covered the story three times:
July 3: Sources advised that Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Luis Ortiz was subject to a gambling investigation and placed on MLB’s restricted list.
July 18: Ortiz had his leave extended by Major League Baseball. MLB issued a press release, and ESPN published roughly 388 words, including a quote from Commissioner Rob Manfred at his All-Star Game press conference. Manfred noted that certain types of bets can be troublesome for MLB but said he believes there is enough monitoring in place to alert and protect the game.
July 28: Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase was also placed on leave in connection with the same gambling investigation. ESPN ran another short piece online using the same quote from Manfred.
“I firmly believe that the transparency and monitoring that we have in place now, as a result of the legalization and the partnerships that we’ve made, puts us in a better position to protect baseball than we were in before,” Manfred said at the time.
Of course, this is not March 1989, when Sports Illustrated tipped off the commissioner’s office, and blew the Pete Rose gambling investigation wide open. The media landscape has changed and in ways no one could ever have imagined.
And as we all know—made clear by watching or attending any Major League Baseball game—sports gambling is now legalized and fully embraced by MLB, which has three official gambling sponsors.
Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY—perhaps the most respected national MLB writer, and one of the few remaining—shed a little more light to a story that appears got buried.
Published Sunday, Nightengale reports that any recognizable signs of the two pitchers have vanished from the Cleveland clubhouse, with the mention of Ortiz and Clase reduced to little more than whispers from outsiders.
According to Nightengale, it is expected that the leaves for both pitchers will likely extend through the end of the season, with the investigation continuing through the winter. And simply put, once a decision is made, if they are found guilty, they will never pitch in Major League Baseball again.
“If Clase and Ortiz are guilty of betting on baseball, or if they intentionally influenced prop bets, they are done for life,” reports Nightengale.
Per MLB rules, if a player bets on a game in which he has a “duty to perform,” he faces a lifetime ban.
MLB Rule 21, Section D, Parts 1 & 2:
(d) GAMBLING.
(1) Any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has no duty to perform, shall be declared ineligible for one year.
(2) Any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform, shall be declared permanently ineligible.
Nightengale estimates that Clase was on a potential Hall of Fame–caliber trajectory, having led the American League in saves in each of the last three seasons.
June 2025. Ortiz’s out-of-the-zone first-inning pitches coupled with unusual betting, tipped off sports betting integrity monitors—first on June 15, then again on June 27.
Per Cleveland.com:
“MLB has working relationships with legal sportsbooks and integrity betting firms. The integrity betting firm IC360 alerted 40 sportsbooks about irregular betting patterns on two pitches Ortiz threw, one on June 15 and the other on June 27.”
Here’s Luis Ortiz allegedly throwing a ball on purpose because gambling while JK Simmons is being interviewed in the booth (June 27th) https://t.co/2FCnfMcUSL pic.twitter.com/oTz6595584
— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) July 3, 2025
Less is known about Clase’s alleged involvement, but Cleveland.com reports it is believed that he is also under investigation for participation in micro-bets or prop bets, where gamblers wager on specific pitches or outcomes within a game.
There is some speculation that Clase may have intentionally spiked a ball against Bobby Witt Jr. on the first pitch of the ninth inning in a game on April 12.
Further speculation examines the percentage of waste pitches on the first pitch of the ninth inning, which, naturally as a closer, Clase would throw a fair share of.
Emmanuel Clase has come in to the game at the beginning of the 9th inning 40 times this season. Here is his Statcast Waste% (pitches that aren’t close to zone).
First pitch of 9th inning: = 17.5%
Every other pitch = 5.2%Just speculating, but this how Luis Ortiz got flagged. pic.twitter.com/lZGwgQ2KdZ
— Foolish Baseball (@FoolishBB) July 28, 2025
Interestingly, last year Clase signed a deal with a startup called Finlete, in which a player essentially sells his earnings like a stock. In exchange for an upfront payment, reports Sportico.com, Clase provides a piece of his future earnings to investors.
“According to regulatory disclosures as of the end of 2024, Finlete raised $15,980 out of a goal of $3.6 million for the Clase offering. More recent figures haven’t been disclosed, and Finlete’s website says the Clase offering is closed,” writes Brendan Coffey of Sportico.
Finlete CEO Rob Connolly said he was stunned when Clase’s agent told him at the 2024 All-Star Game that his client would be interested in a partnership, per Crain’s Cleveland Business:
“Emmanuel Clase, the All-Star closer for the Guardians, is not going to do a deal with Finlete. And he’s like, ‘No, man, I think he would. He really wants to connect with the fans better.’”
Clase is currently signed to a five-year, $20 million contract he agreed to with the Guardians in 2022. He was considered a potential trade target prior to the investigation and subsequent leave.
In 2020, Clase was banned 80 games by Major League Baseball for violating its performance-enhancing drug policy.
