Ortiz Pleads Not Guilty to Gambling Charges; Will Clase Do the Same?

• Luis Ortiz of the Cleveland Guardians pled not guilty on many charges stemming from pitch-rigging allegations.
• Teammate Emmanuel Clase will put forth his plea on Thursday afternoon.
• The two are accused of manipulating prop bets with pitches, and Clase is a former three-time All-Star.

Luis Ortiz of the Cleveland Guardians entered a plea of not guilty in court on Wednesday for an indictment stating he and teammate Emmanuel Clase rigged their pitches for gambling purposes.

Clase will announce his plea on Thursday, and is a high-profile player.

Ortiz and Clase Accused of Taking Bribes on Pitches They Threw

Ortiz stated his not-guilty plea on Thursday in Brooklyn.

The Guardians’ starter was released on a $500,000 bond, and has numerous conditions for his release, including no gambling, firearms, drugs, or contact with others that may be implicated in the case.

The indictments accuse Ortiz and Clase, a reliever with the Guardians, of taking bribes from gamblers in the Dominican Republic, where the two pitchers are from. Major League Baseball was alerted to suspicious betting activity around Ortiz and Clase at MLB betting sites.

The latter is being accused of introducing Ortiz to the gamblers, and that he has been involved with the gamblers since 2023. However, he didn’t take any money until this season. Reports state that one of the props was on Clase’s pitching velocity, and whether he would throw a pitch slower than 97.95 miles per hour. Clase did, and the gamblers won $11,000.

The case has been going on for most of the baseball season, but the indictments are the next step in what could be a long road for Ortiz and Clase. His arraignment takes place on Thursday, and there is no word on what his plea will be.

Is Clase the Highest-Profile Player to Be Associated with Recent Gambling Scandals?

With all the gambling scandals taking place in sports right now, it could be tough to figure out who is the highest-profile person associated with these situations. The NBA gambling scandal is still ongoing, but Chauncey Billups is a Hall of Fame player and was a coach for the Portland Trail Blazers.

But you could make the argument that Clase is right up there. The 27-year-old is the Guardians’ leader in career saves with 182, with a high of 42 in 2024. He is a three-time All-Star, and a two-time American League Reliever of the Year. He signed a five-year, $20 million extension with the Guardians in 2022.

Clase is an excellent reliever, but it looks like he’s going to have to save himself from serious prison time if these allegations are true.