New documents reportedly suggest that the alleged match-fixing scheme involving two Cleveland Guardians pitchers is much more extensive than originally thought.
According to an ESPN report, Guardians pitcher Emmanuel Clase allegedly manipulated his own pitches in nearly 50 games for the purposes of receiving kickbacks. According to court documents filed in November, Clase and teammate Luis Ortiz allegedly conspired with a group of people to rig specific pitches based on speed and location.
The scheme allegedly allowed the co-conspirators to profit from wagers placed using information provided by Clase and Ortiz. Clase and Ortiz’s alleged involvement in the scheme led to charges of wire fraud conspiracy, bribery and money laundering.
Clase initially suspected over 9 games
In court documents filed last year, federal prosecutors initially tied 27-year-old Dominican Republic native Clase to suspicions of rigging pitches in nine games over two years. That number has now been more than quintupled. On Thursday, legal counsel for Ortiz claimed that Clase’s involvement extended to at least 48 games over the two-year period.
Legal counsel for Ortiz made the claim in a court filing to separate Ortiz’s case from Clase’s. Ortiz wants to sever his case from Clase’s as they have “markedly different levels of culpability,” per his representatives, who claim that Ortiz only got involved in the alleged scheme in 2025.
Ortiz was placed on non-disciplinary paid leave by MLB after allegedly joining the gambling scheme in June 2025. According to court documents, in that month, co-conspirators allegedly won $60,000 from betting on Ortiz’s pitches, with the wagers being flagged for suspicious betting activity by IC360.
Clase was also placed on non-disciplinary paid leave by the MLB amid the investigation.
MLB and operators respond to alleged scheme
MLB took action following the indictments of Clase and Ortiz by collaborating with its licensed sportsbook partners, announcing in November a $200 cap on pitch-level markets across the U.S. on all MLB-affiliated sportsbooks.
MLB said its operator partners implemented the bet limit to mitigate risk centered around single-pitch markets and to maintain transparency within the regulated gaming market.
Operators that imposed a bet limit on pitch-level markets included bet365, BetMGM, DraftKings, FanDuel and Fanatics, the Sports Betting Alliance membership group that represents over 98% of the U.S. online gaming market.
Regulators and lawmakers also respond
While the MLB bet limits were nationwide, individual states have also proposed curbing “micro” betting after the scandal first broke.
Bills were filed in both chambers of the New Jersey legislature in the second half of last year to ban in-play prop bets on the next action in a sporting event. The text of the proposals specifically listed whether the next pitch in a baseball game would be a strike as an example of the type of bet that would be banned.
Earlier this week, the New York State Gaming Commission said it had sent letters to professional sports leagues asking them to consider requesting limitations on certain prop bet markets amid recent scandals.
In the Empire State legislature, Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal also wants to take action and has introduced a bill to remove “in-play bets” from authorized betting activity in the state. New York Asm. Carrie Woerner also proposed a more drastic bill to limit sports wagers to final game outcomes only.
