Cleveland Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz has been placed on paid leave as Major League Baseball investigates him for possible gambling violations, the team confirmed Thursday.
Ortiz was originally set to start against the Chicago Cubs, but Joey Cantillo stepped in following the sudden news. The leave, according to the Guardians, comes under an agreement with the MLB Players Association and is tied to an “ongoing league investigation.”
According to ESPN, a betting-integrity firm flagged two pitches thrown by Ortiz, one on June 15th and another on June 27th. The first involved a wild throw to Randy Arozarena that wasn’t near the strike zone, reportedly triggering an alert after bets were placed on the pitch being either a ball or hit batsman. The second pitch, in a different game, involved similar betting activity and an errant throw.
While players can legally gamble on sports, MLB prohibits any betting on baseball or softball. The league has previously come down hard on such violations: Tucupita Marcano received a lifetime ban for betting on games involving his team, and four others, Michael Kelly, Jay Groome, José Rodríguez, and Andrew Saalfrank, were each suspended for one year after betting on games they didn’t play in.
The Guardians stated they are “not permitted to comment further at this time, and will respect the league’s confidential investigative process.”
Ortiz, 26, currently holds a 4-9 record with a 4.36 ERA across 88 ⅔ innings. The Guardians sit 40-44 and remain within reach of a wild-card spot, just four games back.
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