Copyright Essentially Sports
A seven-year career in Major League Baseball has come to an end, making him the latest victim of the growing illegal gambling scandal. These issues have rocked baseball since Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter made headlines for allegedly breaking betting rules. And now, an infielder who became a pitcher is quitting professional baseball. His former teammate’s legal problems and involvement in a separate investigation seem to have affected him. David Fletcher, a 31-year-old veteran of the Angels, has announced his retirement, a proof of how far the gambling investigation is going within the organization. Major League Baseball started looking into Fletcher in May 2024 because of claims that he was involved in illegal gambling. Reports say that Fletcher made sports bets with Mathew Bowyer, the same unlicensed bookmaker who was linked to Ippei Mizuhara, Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, who confessed to helping the Japanese superstar move millions of dollars in gambling-related wire transfers. ADVERTISEMENT As investigators looked into patterns of illegal betting among Angels players, they found evidence against David Fletcher. Now, Talkin’ Baseball shared an update on X. ADVERTISEMENT “Former Angels infielder David Fletcher is hanging ’em up. He had been in the Braves system attempting to pivot to a career as a pitcher.” This ends his efforts to rebuild his career after having trouble in Atlanta. But now, the investigation into gambling has made it clear that his professional playing days are over.
