BOSTON — Cleveland Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz appeared in federal court Monday on charges accusing him and teammate Emmanuel Clase of taking bribes to help associates in their native Dominican Republic win prop bets placed on pitches they threw.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Donald Cabell in Boston granted Ortiz his release but with several conditions, including that he surrender his passport, restrict his travel to the Northeast and post a $500,000 bond, $50,000 of it secured. He also was ordered to avoid contact with anyone who could be viewed as a victim, witness or co-defendant in the case.
Ortiz, dressed in a pale green track suit, did not say anything in court. His lawyers declined to speak to reporters after the brief hearing.
Boston Red Sox in April and spoke with him by phone just before taking the mound. Four minutes later, the indictment said, the bettor and his associates won $11,000 on a wager that Clase would toss a certain pitch slower than 97.95 mph.
Clase, a three-time All-Star and two-time American League Reliever of the Year, had a $4.5 million salary in 2025, the fourth season of a $20 million, five-year contract. The three-time AL save leader began providing the bettors with information about his pitches in 2023 but didn’t ask for payoffs until this year, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Ortiz, who had a $782,600 salary this year, got in on the scheme in June and is accused of rigging pitches in games against the Seattle Mariners and the St. Louis Cardinals.
The charges are the latest bombshell developments in a federal crackdown on betting in professional sports.
Last month, more than 30 people, including prominent basketball figures such as Portland Trail Blazers head coach and Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, were arrested in a gambling sweep that rocked the NBA.
