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Cleveland Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz pleaded not guilty to charges that he accepted bribes in exchange for ensuring players won bets on his seats.
Ortiz, 26, appeared in Brooklyn federal court Wednesday after being arrested Sunday at Logan International Airport in Boston.
Ortiz has been released on $500,000 bail pending his next court date in December. He is subject to GPS monitoring and was ordered to limit his travel to New York, Massachusetts and Ohio.
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Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Luis Ortiz (45) celebrates during the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Progressive Field on May 30, 2025. (Ken Blaze/Imagn Images)
His Guardians teammate Emmanuel Clase has also been charged in the alleged scheme.
Clase will be arraigned in the same courthouse Thursday.
“Emmanuel Clase has dedicated his life to baseball and does 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 Pakinomist Digital reached out for an update on the investigation on Oct. 22, MLB sent Pakinomist Digital for a statement in August.
“MLB contacted federal law enforcement at the beginning of its investigation and has cooperated fully throughout the process. We are aware of the indictment and today’s arrest, and our investigation is ongoing,” MLB’s statement on Sunday read.
Clase and Ortiz “conspired with players to rig professional baseball games so that the players would profit from illegal bets based on this inside information,” the indictment said. “The defendants agreed in advance with their co-conspirators to pitch certain types and speeds of pitchers, and their co-conspirators used that inside information to place bets on those pitches.
“In some cases, the defendants received bribes and kickbacks – routed through third parties – in exchange for manipulating 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, misled the United States public and betrayed the past.”
GUARDIANS Pitchers accused in gambling scheme involving MLB GAMES
Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz remain on leave amid a gambling 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 “throw specific pitches in certain MLB games” so that the bettors with whom they allegedly colluded “would benefit from illegal betting based on this inside information.” Ortiz reportedly joined the scheme in June 2025.
The indictment said Clase was conferring with a player who threw a ball on the first pitch in an at-bat when he was brought into games in relief. The indictment pointed to instances 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 kickbacks to agree to throw the specific pitches in April, according to the indictment. In one instance, the indictment said Clase used his phone in the middle of a game to coordinate with a player on a pitch he wanted to throw.
Bettors reportedly won $400,000 from betting platforms on pitchers pitched by Clase between 2023 and 2025.
When Ortiz allegedly joined the scheme, the indictment said, he agreed to throw balls over strikes on certain pitches in exchange for bribes or kickbacks. He reportedly agreed to throw a ball on June 15 against the Seattle Mariners for about $5,000 in his first pitch in the second inning.
The indictment said Ortiz agreed to throw a ball on his first pitch of the third inning on June 27 against St. Louis Cardinals for $7,000.
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Cleveland Guardians’ Luis Ortiz pitches in the first inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins in Cleveland on April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, file)
In June 2025, players won at least $60,000 on pitches thrown by Ortiz.
The indictment came weeks after three NBA figures were swept up in an FBI operation involving illegal gambling. Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier and Damon Jones were among the more than two dozen arrested in the scheme.
