Major League Baseball has placed starting pitcher Luis Ortiz on nondisciplinary paid leave as it investigates the first-year member of the Cleveland Guardians for possible involvement in gambling.
The investigation originated with gambling integrity firm IC360, which informed MLB in June of two pitches that Ortiz, 26, threw in two separate starts that triggered what it calls “unusual gambling activity,” according to ESPN.
Ortiz’s paid leave, negotiated between MLB and the MLB Players’ Association, is set to expire at the end of the upcoming All-Star break on Friday, July 18. It could be extended if the investigation goes beyond that date.
The Guardians scratched Ortiz from his scheduled start on the road Thursday, July 3, against the Chicago Cubs. Joey Cantillo got the nod instead as Ortiz returned to Cleveland.
Detroit Pistons star Malik Beasley is reportedly the subject of a new gambling investigation regarding NBA game bets. News broke on Sunday, June 29, that the U.S. district attorney’s office was looking into Beasley, 28, on allegations of gambling. ESPN, who broke the news, reported that prominent betting sites detected unusually heavy interest in Beasley’s […]
Keep scrolling for everything you need to know about MLB’s gambling investigation into Ortiz.
Who Is Luis Ortiz?
Luis Ortiz Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images
Ortiz is a right-handed starting pitcher for the Guardians. He’s in his fourth year in Major League Baseball after spending his first three seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates and coming over to the American League as part of a three-team offseason trade. He is coming off the best season of his young career so far but has struggled in 2025. Ortiz sports a 4.36 ERA with a league-high nine losses.
Why Is MLB Investigating Him?
IC360 flagged two pitches that Ortiz made 12 days apart. In both instances, his first pitch of the inning was a slider well outside the strike zone. Normally, this would not raise any eyebrows. But IC360 noticed increased activity on prop bets for each of those innings on his first pitch being a ball.
New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm didn’t appreciate the calls from home plate umpire John Bacon on Thursday night, April 17, and he let the world know about it. Chisholm, 27, was ejected from the Yankees’ 6-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays after arguing a called third strike with Bacon, 41, in the […]
What Have Ortiz and the Guardians Said About the Investigation?
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images
Ortiz has yet to break his silence on the investigation as of Friday, July 4.
The Guardians’ president of baseball operations, Chris Antonetti, told the media that the club first learned of the investigation on Wednesday, July 2, and its immediate concern was finding someone to start in his place the following day.
“Our focus is we’ll let the investigative process play out,” he said. “To the extent Major League Baseball or anyone needs our support in that, we will obviously cooperate. But beyond that, there’s really not much we can do.”
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said he didn’t know how to feel upon learning the news.
“There’s so much unknowns with this, but you know what? Every team goes through adversity, maybe different kinds, but this is a resilient group,” he said. “I’ve been through situations similar to this before in my career as a player, and what would I have wanted to hear? How would I want the manager to have reacted, and that’s what I’m trying to do.”
MLB also released a statement confirming the investigation but not revealing any more than that.
“Cleveland Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz has been placed on nondisciplinary paid leave through the end of the All-Star break due to an MLB investigation,” the statement read. “We will not comment further until the investigation has been completed.”
What Penalties Could Ortiz Face?
If MLB determines that Ortiz manipulated the outcome of his games — even just a pitch or two at a time — he could face significant repercussions and even a lifetime ban from Major League Baseball.
Since the Supreme Court declared a federal ban on sports betting to be unconstitutional in 2018, most states have legalized the hobby, and professional athletes have already been caught up in it.
In 2024, MLB banned San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano for life after determining he placed more than 400 bets on baseball, while four other players received one-year suspensions for placing bets on MLB games while in the minor leagues.
MLB fired umpire Pat Hoberg, one of the most accurate ball-strike callers in the game, after determining he shared a sports betting account with a friend who bet on baseball. Hoberg, 38, also allegedly deleted messages that were material to the investigation.
