Amid an ongoing investigation involving a betting scandal, Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were denied an opportunity to play winter ball in their home country, the Dominican Republic.
On Monday, ESPN’s Enrique Rojas reported that the Estrellas Orientales of LIDOM rejected the registration of Clase and Ortiz to their roster. Rojas added that Major League Baseball had no say in the decision.
The two pitchers’ seasons concluded in July, having been placed on paid administrative leave. World Baseball Network’s Leif Skodnick reported that Clase and Ortiz attended the Estrellas’ preseason training camp in San Pedro de MacorÃs, Dominican Republic.
Gambling Investigation
The LIDOM season began Wednesday night, and Clase previously pitched for the Estrellas during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 winter seasons. Neither he nor Ortiz will pitch for the organization this season, and their MLB careers are in jeopardy.
MLB’s betting investigation stems from individual pitches thrown by Ortiz. Suspicious betting activity displayed from games on June 15 and June 27 showed that Ortiz may have intentionally thrown balls on the first pitch of multiple innings. The right-hander threw sliders nowhere near the strike zone, including one against the St. Louis Cardinals in the third inning on June 27 that bounced in the dirt and hit the backstop.
“In both cases, unusual amounts of money were wagered on the pitches being a ball or hit batsman from betting accounts in New York, New Jersey, and Ohio, according to a copy of the IC360 alert obtained by ESPN,” ESPN’s Jeff Passan wrote in July. “Both pitches wound up well outside the strike zone.”
Clase was one of the better closers in baseball before he was placed on non-disciplinary leave on July 28. He is a three-time All-Star and two-time winner of the Mariano Rivera Award, given to the best relief pitcher in the American League. The gambling allegations against Clase are serious, but his participation is unclear, according to Passan’s report from the summer.
Guardians Survived Without Its Pitchers
At the time of Ortiz and Clase’s departure from the Guardians, the team’s record was below .500. They staged a miraculous comeback to win the American League Central over the Detroit Tigers. Still, the Tigers got the better of them in the Wild Card Series, despite the Guardians holding home-field advantage.
You could argue that losing Clase was more pivotal than losing Ortiz, and you’d probably be right. Ortiz has a career ERA of over 4, and he posted an ERA+ (125) above 100 just once in his first three years, with some changes in the Major Leagues. Clase finished third in AL Cy Young voting in 2024, posting a 0.61 ERA with 47 saves in 74 games.
At the end of August, MLB announced the two pitchers would remain on non-disciplinary leave “until further notice”. The future of their baseball careers is up in the air, and if they are found guilty, it would be a waste of talent. Will sportsbooks consider getting rid of betting on individual pitches?
“Betting on the result of pitches is a niche market, offered by only a select few U.S. sportsbooks,” ESPN’s David Purdum wrote on August 31. “New Jersey and Ohio have taken steps to prohibit state-licensed sportsbooks from offering such markets, commonly referred to as microbetting, but for now, some sportsbooks continue to offer betting on the result of individual pitches.”
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