Jury trial begins for ex-Guardians pitchers in $460,000 gambling fraud case

Two former Cleveland Guardians pitchers stand trial in federal court in Brooklyn on Monday.

Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz face charges that they took bribes to help gamblers win at least $460,000 on in-game prop bets.

The pitchers have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges. They remain on nondisciplinary leave from the Guardians without pay while the case proceeds.

The indictment states that Clase began sharing pitch information with two bettors from the Dominican Republic in 2023. Prosecutors say he recruited Ortiz into the scheme in 2025.

The government alleges the pair accepted several thousand dollars in payoffs to predict the speed and outcome of specific pitches.

Clase, 28, was a three-time All-Star and two-time American League Reliever of the Year. He completed the fourth year of a five-year, $20 million contract before the charges surfaced in November 2025.

Ortiz, 27, earned $782,600 as a starting pitcher for the Guardians in the 2025 season.

Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto held a pretrial conference on Friday. She expects to finish jury selection quickly so attorneys can deliver short opening statements that afternoon.

The trial is scheduled to last about one month. Witnesses are expected to include catchers and baseball executives.

Defense lawyers argue the pitchers did not collude with gamblers. They claim the pitchers were simply varying pitch placement to confuse batters.

On Friday, Judge Matsumoto ruled that prosecutors cannot show the jury evidence that Clase owed $500,000 in U.S. taxes.

The judge found that the government turned over the tax evidence to defense lawyers several days after the deadline for sharing evidence with opponents had passed.