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Cleveland Guardians’ pitcher Luis Ortiz pleaded not guilty to charges of taking bribes in exchange for ensuring gamblers won bets on his pitches.
Ortiz, 26, appeared in Brooklyn federal court Wednesday after being arrested Sunday at Logan International Airport in Boston.
Ortiz was released on $500,000 bond until his next court date in December. He is subject to GPS monitoring and was ordered to limit his travel to New York, Massachusetts and Ohio.
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Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Luis Ortiz celebrates during the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Progressive Field May 30, 2025. (Ken Blaze/Imagn Images)
His Guardians teammate, Emmanuel Clase, was also charged in the alleged scheme.
Clase will be arraigned at the same courthouse Thursday.
"Emmanuel Clase has devoted his life to baseball and doing everything in his power to help his team win," Clase's lawyer, Michael Ferrara, said in an emailed statement Wednesday.
MLB placed Ortiz and Clase on non-disciplinary paid leave due to a gambling probe July 3. When Fox News Digital reached out for an update on the investigation Oct. 22, MLB directed Fox News Digital to an August statement.
"MLB contacted federal law enforcement at the outset of its investigation and has fully cooperated throughout the process. We are aware of the indictment and today's arrest, and our investigation is ongoing," MLB’s statement on Sunday said.
Clase and Ortiz "conspired with bettors to rig pitches in professional baseball games so that the bettors would profit from illegal wagers made based on that inside information," an indictment says. "The defendants agreed in advance with their co-conspirators to throw specific types and speeds of pitches, and their co-conspirators used that inside information to place wagers on those pitches.
"In some instances, the defendants received bribes and kickback payments — funneled through third parties — in exchange for rigging pitches. 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 past time."
GUARDIANS PITCHERS INDICTED IN GAMBLING SCHEME INVOLVING MLB GAMES
Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz (David Dermer and Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn)
Officials said in the indictment that, from May 2023 to June 2025, Clase agreed with one co-conspirator to "throw specific pitches in certain MLB games" so that the bettors they were allegedly partnered with "would profit from illegal wagers made based on that inside information." Ortiz allegedly joined the scheme in June 2025.
The indictment said Clase conferred with one bettor to throw a ball on the first pitch of an at-bat when he was brought into games in relief. The indictment pointed to instances in specific games, including May 19, 2023, vs. the New York Mets; June 2, 2023, vs. the Minnesota Twins; and June 7, 2023, vs. the Boston Red Sox.
Clase allegedly began to request and receive bribes and kickback payments for agreeing to throw the specific pitches in April, according to the indictment. In one instance, the indictment said, Clase used his phone in the middle of a game to coordinate with a bettor on a pitch he would throw.
Bettors allegedly won $400,000 from betting platforms on pitches thrown by Clase between 2023 and 2025.
When Ortiz allegedly joined the scheme, the indictment said, he agreed to throw balls over strikes on certain pitches in exchange for bribes or kickbacks. He allegedly agreed to throw a ball on June 15 against the Seattle Mariners for around $5,000 in his first pitch in the second inning.
The indictment said Ortiz agreed to throw a ball in his first pitch of the third inning on June 27 against the St. Louis Cardinals for $7,000.
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The Cleveland Guardians' Luis Ortiz pitches in the first inning against the Minnesota Twins in Cleveland April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, file)
In June 2025, bettors won at least $60,000 on pitches thrown by Ortiz.
The indictment announcement came weeks after three NBA figures were swept up in an FBI operation involving illegal gambling. Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier and Damon Jones were among the more than two dozen arrested in the scheme.
Fox News Digital's Ryan Gaydos and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.
