Guardians' Emmanuel Clase, Luis Ortiz indicted for pitch rigging
Jeff Passan
Nov 9, 2025, 01:56 PM ET
Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were charged with fraud, conspiracy and bribery stemming from an alleged scheme to rig individual pitches that led to gamblers winning hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to an indictment unsealed by federal prosecutors Sunday.
[...]
In a 23-page indictment, prosecutors outlined a scheme perpetrated by Clase, the right-hander regarded as one of the best relief pitchers in baseball. According to prosecutors, Clase would regularly throw balls instead of strikes and sliders rather than cutters on the first pitch of at-bats in which bettors would wager on the individual pitches to be balls or under a specific mph threshold. The proposition bets, according to the indictment, would often be stacked in a parlay, leading to greater winnings.
Clase provided money to bettors to gamble on his behalf, texted with bettors during games and later was joined in the scheme by Ortiz, a right-hander who joined the Guardians in a December 2024 trade, the indictment said.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/46906636/guardians-emmanuel-clase-luis-ortiz-indicted-pitch-rigging
Note to mods - please move this to the Baseball thread, if it is ever unlocked again!
