According to a federal indictment, prosecutors charged Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz with conspiring with bettors to throw intentional balls.

CLEVELAND — Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz have been indicted on federal charges related to the sports betting investigation that has sidelined the pair since the summer.

Clase and Ortiz were charged by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn of conspiring with bettors to rig pitches in games in which they appeared. According to the indictment in the Eastern District of New York, prosecutors allege the pitchers agreed in advance with co-conspirators to throw specific types and speeds of pitches and received bribes and kickback payments in exchange for the inside betting information.

“Through this scheme, the defendants defrauded betting platforms, deprived Major League Baseball and the Cleveland Guardians of their honest services, illegally enriched themselves and their co-conspirators, misled the public, and betrayed America’s pastime,” the indictment’s introduction reads.

Journalist Pablo Torre first broke the news of the indictment.

BREAKING: The Department of Justice has charged two Cleveland Guardians pitchers, Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase, in sports betting and money laundering conspiracy. pic.twitter.com/c5narUTgKr

— Pablo Torre 👀 (@PabloTorre) November 9, 2025

The U.S. Department of Justice confirmed the indictment in a press release Sunday afternoon.

“Luis Leandro Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase de la Cruz allegedly rigged their pitches in professional baseball games, so that an inner circle, and occasionally themselves, could quietly cash out their winnings,” FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia said.  “The defendants’ alleged greed not only established an unfair advantage for select bettors, but also sullied the reputation of America’s pastime. The FBI will ensure any individual who exploits their position as a professional athlete at the expense of others strikes out.”

Major League Baseball said in a statement to 3News that it contacted federal law enforcement at the outset of its investigation and has “fully cooperated throughout the process.” The league is aware of the indictment and its investigation is ongoing, MLB said.

“We are aware of the recent law enforcement action,” the Guardians told 3News in a statement. “We will continue to cooperate with both law enforcement and Major League Baseball as their investigations continue.”

Ortuz was arrested Sunday in Boston and will be arraigned in New York at a later date. Clase “is currently not in U.S. custody,” the DOJ said.

Ortiz’s attorney, Chris Georgalis, provided ESPN a statement saying Ortiz is “innocent of the charges related to two pitches he threw.” 

“There is no credible evidence Luis knowingly did anything other than try to win games, with every pitch and in every inning,” Georgalis said.

According to the DOJ, Clase and Ortiz face up to 65 years in prison if convicted on all charges, which include wire fraud, bribery and money laundering conspiracy charges.

Clase, 27, first began conspiring with “corrupt sports bettors” to rig prop bets on pitches he threw in or around May 2023, prosectors alleged. The DOJ alleged that Clase brought Ortiz, 26, into the betting scheme around June of this year.

According to page 13 of the 23-page indictment, Clase and Ortiz’s alleged co-conspirators won at least $400,000 off bets based on pitches thrown by Clase and at least $60,000 from betting on Ortiz. The DOJ alleged that Clase gave bettors advance information about pitches he threw in games as far back as May and June 2023.

“Usually, they agreed that CLASE would throw balls (instead of strikes) and slower “slider” pitches (rather than faster cut fastball “cutter” pitches)—and often on the first pitches of an at-bat when CLASE was brought into a game as a relief pitcher,” the indictment reads.

Prosecutors noted Clase’s pitches that lined up with alleged betting activity were frequently thrown low into the dirt.

According to a section of the indictment first reported by ESPN baseball insider Jeff Passan, prosecutors allege Ortiz received $5,000 for throwing an intentional ball during the Guardians’ 6-0 loss to the Seattle Mariners on June 15, and Clase was given $5,000 for facilitating the scheme. The indictment states Clase and Ortiz did the same thing on June 27 — a 5-0 loss at home to St. Louis — and got $7,000 each that time. Clase also allegedly got one of the bettors tickets to the June 27 game.

The indictment also lays out instances in which Clase, Ortiz and the bettors allegedly moved money around to cover the bets and the pitchers’ payoffs. 

In one allegation, prosecutors said Clase arranged for a wire transfer to one of Ortiz’s associates, then told Ortiz: “Tell him that this is payment for a horse. Payment for a horse. You got that?”

Before the June 27 game, prosecutors say bank security footage showed Clase withdraw around $50,000 in cash, about $15,000 of which was sent to a bettor to wager on an allegedly rigged pitch. The bettor was captured by security footage depositing the $15,000 at the same bank branch from which Clase withdrew his money, according to the indictment.

The allegations also lay out at least one instance in which the alleged betting scheme did not go to plan.

On May 28, when the Guardians played the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, Clase’s bettors placed wagers totaling around $4,000 that Clase would throw a ball or hit by pitch. When Clase threw the pitch in question, it sailed away from the strike zone, but LA’s Andy Pages unleashed an errant swing. The strike caused alleged co-conspirators to lose their bets, and an unnamed bettor text messaged Clase and “image of a man hanging himself with toilet paper.”

“Even though the Cleveland Guardians won the game,” the indictment states, 10 minutes later Clase responded to the bettor “with a .gif image of a sad puppy dog face.” 

You can view the full indictment here: