Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase of the Cleveland Guardians have been banned from the Dominican Winter League as the MLB continues its gambling probe.
ESPN’s Enrique Rojas reported earlier this week that the DR Baseball League has prohibited the Estrellas Orientales from adding the pair to their active roster for the season.
In July the MLB extended Ortiz’s paid leave as part of their investigation into suspicious betting patterns.
Just weeks later Ortiz’s teammate Clase was named in another MLB gambling probe and the two are known to be close friends in the Guardians locker room, sitting next to each other in spring training and bonding over their passion for the DR.
The MLB is looking into two specific pitches that Ortiz threw – one on June 15 against the Seattle Mariners and the other on June 27 against the St. Louis Cardinals.
In both, Ortiz threw first-pitch sliders well outside the strike zone and betting integrity firm IC360 soon sent alerts to online betting operators suggesting potential foul play.
The alerts flagged wagers in Ohio, New York and New Jersey. The MLB is investigating whether or not Ortiz was pre-determining the outcome of certain pitches and if found guilty he faces a lifetime ban.
There are no specific details regarding Clase’s case. This isn’t the first time he’s found himself in hot water and in 2020 he missed the entire season because of a suspension for PEDs.
MLB insider Hector Gomez reported this week that Clase is not expected to play in the MLB again due to ‘irrefutable gambling evidence’ found against him.
In 2024, Clase enjoyed one of the most dominant seasons by a closer in history. He led the leagues in saves for three straight years and posted a 0.61 ERA last year.
Clase is the only player in MLB history with 350+ games played and an ERA+ over 220.
Joe Lyons is a betting industry writer for GamblingIndustryNews with years of experience on reputable gambling websites. Joe specialises in long form content in the world of sports betting and gambling. Joe is recognised as an expert in sports fields such as horse racing, soccer, NFL and NBA.
