Cleveland Guardians’ Emmanuel Clase, Luis Ortiz to stand trial next year amid sports betting scandal

Luis L. Ortiz #45 of the Cleveland Guardians pitches against the Athletics at Sutter Health Park on June 21, 2025, in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Scott Marshall/Getty Images)

(NEW YORK) — Emmanuel Clase and his Cleveland Guardians teammate Luis Ortiz will stand trial May 4 on charges they allegedly rigged their pitches so sports bettors could profit.

Judge Kiyo Matsumoto scheduled the trial date on Tuesday during a brief status conference. The judge said the trial could last about two weeks.

At this point, federal prosecutors said they have not extended plea offers to the defendants, both of whom were present in Brooklyn federal court.

According to their indictments, the pitchers started conspiring with sports bettors in 2023 on specific pitches they would throw during MLB games. The bettors then used that information to place prop bets worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, the indictment said.

The bettors wagered on the speed and type of Clase’s pitches based on information they knew in advance by coordinating with Clase, sometimes even during MLB games, prosecutors said. Clase often threw these allegedly rigged pitches on the first pitch of an at-bat, investigators said. To ensure certain pitches were called as balls, Clase threw many of them in the dirt, well outside the strike zone, according to investigators.

In exchange, Clase received bribes and kickbacks, prosecutors said.

The indictment includes numerous examples of pitches Clase allegedly rigged. In total, by rigging pitches, Clase caused his co-conspirator bettors to win at least $400,000 in fraudulent wagers, according to investigators.

Ortiz allegedly joined the scheme this year, according to the indictment, and allegedly agreed in advance to throw balls instead of strikes on pitches in two games in exchange for bribes and kickbacks.

Both Clase and Ortiz have pleaded not guilty to the charges.