Opening statements began Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court for Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, who are accused of rigging their own pitches to benefit gamblers. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Urquiola described the relievers as "cheaters" who "sold their pitches."
Clase and Ortiz, who have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges, are on unpaid leave from the team. They were arrested in November 2025 and have been free on bail since.
According to Urquiola, Clase befriended a sports bettor in the Dominican Republic in early 2023. She stated that Clase, after seeing gamblers profit from his pitches, asked for kickbacks and eventually agreed to inform the bettor about the types of pitches he would throw in certain games. This alleged scheme enabled gamblers to profit at least $460,000 on platforms allowing bets on whether a pitch would be a ball or a strike.
Defense lawyers, however, argued that their clients are innocent. They contended that a gambler who befriended Clase falsely claimed to other gamblers that the pitcher was providing inside information and attempted to sell this fabricated information. The defense presented Clase, who was 25 in the spring of 2023 when he met a 41-year-old gambler named Enoc Pena, as someone who was manipulated. Pena, who allegedly made over 7,000 bets between 2023 and 2025, had a history of lying to achieve his goals, according to the defense. The lawyers suggested Pena viewed Clase as a "mark" rather than a friend and was "selling lies."
Bettors allegedly won approximately $400,000 from betting platforms on pitches thrown by Clase between 2023 and 2025. Ortiz reportedly joined the scheme in June 2025. The indictment also alleges that Clase used his phone during a game to coordinate a pitch with a bettor.
Clase, who finished third in the American League Cy Young Award voting in 2024 with a 1.21 ERA, had a 3.80 ERA by the time he was investigated. Ortiz has a career 4.36 ERA, with his best season in 2024 yielding a 3.32 ERA. Clase signed a five-year, $20 million contract in 2022, while Ortiz was making the veteran minimum of $782,600 last season.