Cleveland Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz is the subject of a Major League Baseball gambling investigation and was placed on non-disciplinary leave Thursday, two people with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press.
The people spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the nature of the investigation.
The investigation is related to in-game prop bets on two pitches thrown by Ortiz that received higher activity than usual during his starts at Seattle on June 15 and his recent outing against St. Louis on June 27. The gambling activity on the pitches was flagged by a betting-integrity firm and forwarded to MLB.
ESPN reported the firm IC360 recently also sent an alert to sportsbook operators regarding Ortiz.
The Athletic was the first to report that Ortiz’s suspension was related to gambling.
MLB said Ortiz’s paid leave is through the end of the All-Star break, when players return to their teams July 17 and games resume the following day. It can be extended if the investigation remains ongoing.
Chris Antonetti, Cleveland’s president of baseball operations, said before Thursday night’s game at the Chicago Cubs that the team can continue to have contact with Ortiz, but he can’t enter any of the Guardians’ facilities. Ortiz returned to Cleveland on Wednesday night.
Ortiz was slated to be the starting pitcher for Thursday night’s series finale. Instead, left-hander Joey Cantillo was recalled from Triple-A Columbus. Cantillo is 1-0 with one save and a 3.81 ERA in 21 appearances this season.
“We learned very little last night, but knew we needed to get someone here today to start today’s game, and that really was our focus,” Antonetti said. “A lot has come out today, and that’s far more information than we have.
“Our focus is we’ll let the investigative process play out. To the extent Major League Baseball or anyone needs our support in that, we will obviously cooperate. But beyond that, there’s really not much we can do.”
Manager Stephen Vogt said he and Antonetti addressed the team about Ortiz’s situation and tried to answer questions the best they could.
It is another setback for a Guardians squad that has dropped a season-high six straight games and is 9-18 since May 1.
“Honestly, when I got the news yesterday I didn’t know how to feel,” Vogt said. “There’s so much unknowns with this, but you know what? Every team goes through adversity, maybe different kinds, but this is a resilient group. I’ve been through situations similar to this before in my career as a player, and what would I have wanted to hear? How would I want the manager to have reacted, and that’s what I’m trying to do.”
The 26-year old Ortiz is in his first season with Cleveland after he was acquired in a trade with Pittsburgh last December. The right-hander is 4-9 with a 4.36 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 16 starts this season. The nine losses are tied for the most in the American League.
In four big-league seasons, Ortiz is 16-22 with a 4.05 ERA and one save.
The investigation into Ortiz comes a little more than a year after MLB suspended five players for gambling, including a lifetime ban for San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano. MLB said Marcano placed 387 baseball bets totaling more than $150,000 with a legal sportsbook in 2022 and 2023.
Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly and three minor leaguers — San Diego pitcher Jay Groome, Arizona pitcher and Philadelphia infielder José Rodríguez — received one-year suspensions.
Umpire Pat Hoberg was fired by Major League Baseball in February for sharing his legal sports gambling accounts with a friend who bet on baseball games and for intentionally deleting electronic messages pertinent to the league’s investigation.
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Freelance writer Matt Carlson in Chicago contributed to this report.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
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