Copyright KABC-TV
Two Major League Baseball pitchers allegedly conspired with sports bettors to rig pitches they threw so the bettors would profit from illegal wagers, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn and the FBI announced in an indictment on Sunday. Cleveland Guardians player Luis Leandro Ortiz was arrested Sunday at Logan Airport in Boston. Emmanuel Clase, also of the Guardians, is not yet in custody. According to the indictment, the pitchers started conspiring with sports bettors in 2023 on specific pitches they would throw during MLB games. The bettors then used that information to place prop bets worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, the indictment says. The bettors wagered on the speed and type of Clase's pitches based on information they knew in advance by coordinating with Clase, sometimes even during MLB games, prosecutors said. Clase often threw these allegedly rigged pitches on the first pitch of an at-bat, investigators said. To ensure certain pitches were called as balls, Clase threw many of them in the dirt, well outside the strike zone, according to investigators. In exchange, Clase received bribes and kickbacks, prosecutors said. The indictment includes numerous examples of pitches that Clase allegedly rigged, including one in a game against the New York Mets. In total, by rigging pitches, Clase caused his co-conspirator bettors to win at least $400,000 in fraudulent wagers, according to investigators. Ortiz allegedly joined the scheme in 2025, according to the indictment, and allegedly agreed in advance to throw balls instead of strikes on pitches in two games in exchange for bribes and kickbacks. Before an MLB game on June 15, 2025, Ortiz agreed with his co-conspirators to throw a ball on a particular pitch in exchange for bribes, the indictment alleges. The bettors agreed to pay Ortiz a $5,000 bribe for throwing the rigged pitch and Clase a $5,000 bribe for arranging the rigged pitch, also according to the indictment. "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 public, and betrayed America's pastime," the indictment said. ABC News has reached out to the Guardians for comment. In July, Clase -- the fourth-best closer in the league -- was placed on non-disciplinary leave through Aug. 31 for his alleged role in the betting probe, weeks after Ortiz was placed on the same leave, according to ESPN. The news of this MLB betting probe comes after the Department of Justice recently unsealed an indictment accusing three current and former National Basketball Association coaches and players of participating in an illegal sports gambling scheme. ABC News' Kelly McCarthy contributed to this report. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
