Guardians: Clase and Ortiz on leave due to MLB betting investigation

MLB: Clase and Ortiz Remain on Leave While Gambling Investigation Continues

Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz will remain on paid non-disciplinary leave “until further notice” while an investigation into gambling is underway, Major League Baseball announced on Sunday. MLB issued a statement on Sunday informing that the league and the players’ association agreed to extend the Class and Ortiz licenses. “We will not make any further comments until the investigation is complete,” they added. The investigation focuses on an unusual interest in bets on Ortiz’s individual pitches in two Guardians games in June. A betting house reported “suspicious bets” on Ortiz’s first pitch on two occasions:

On June 15th against the Seattle Mariners, where a bet was placed on whether the first pitch would be a ball or hit the batter.
On June 27th against the St. Louis Cardinals, with the same suspicion.

In both cases, Ortiz threw a slider outside the strike zone. The IC360 integrity firm, which collaborates with betting houses, sports leagues, and state regulators to monitor the betting market, issued an alert to its clients about unusual activity related to Ortiz’s pitches on June 27. Ortiz was placed on non-disciplinary paid leave on July 3. Class, the Guardians’ closer, was placed on paid non-disciplinary leave weeks later, on July 28. The Ohio Casino Control Commission, which oversees the state’s sports betting market, has stated that it is investigating the situation along with MLB and independently.

Bets on the outcome of pitches are a specialized market, offered by only a few sportsbooks in the United States. New Jersey and Ohio have taken steps to prohibit state-licensed sportsbooks from offering such markets, commonly known as micro-bets, but for now, some sportsbooks continue to offer bets on the outcome of individual pitches.

The Guardians began Sunday three games out of the American League Wild Card race.