CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cleveland Guardians All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase and pitcher Luis Ortiz have been scheduled to go to trial in May on charges that accuse them of taking bribes to purposefully doctor pitches for bettors.
U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto set a May 4 date for jury selection to begin, followed by the beginning of the trial sometime between then and May 11.
The trial, which could be pushed back, is expected to last about two weeks in a federal courtroom in Brooklyn, New York.
Clase, 27, and Ortiz, 26, have pleaded not guilty to charges of wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery and money laundering.
Prosecutors say Clase worked with unnamed bettors to rig pitches for so-called prop bets from 2023 to 2025 and that Ortiz helped this past season after joining the team.
Prop bets are wagers on specific outcomes within a game, like whether a particular pitch will be a strike.
Prosecutors say the duo helped bettors win some $460,000 by intentionally throwing balls or pitches at predetermined speeds. Both were paid thousands of dollars for each pitch, the indictment says.
Clase was also accused in the indictment of hooking Ortiz up with bettors to similarly coordinate when to throw balls instead of strikes.
In at least one game, prosecutors say Clase sent money to a bettor to wager on one of Ortiz’s pitches. The bets won $60,000, according to prosecutors.
Clase used some of the money to fix a house in the Dominican Republic, prosecutors said.
Major League Baseball suspended both pitchers during the season.
Clase was in the middle of a five-year, $20 million contract. Ortiz was on a one-year contract with the Guardians that was to pay him $782,000.
MLB officials have since restricted prop bets to $200.