Cleveland Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz pleaded not guilty in Brooklyn Wednesday to federal charges he hurled pitches into the dirt in exchange for bribes, so online gamblers could win big by betting on his individual throws.
Ortiz, 26, dressed in a black leather jacket and ripped, faded jeans, wore his dreadlocked hair in a ponytail as he made his first appearance in Brooklyn Federal Court Wednesday — just three days after he and fellow Guardians pitcher Emmanuel Clase became the latest pro sports figures to be indicted in a sports betting scandal.
Cleveland Guardians’ Luis Ortiz arrives at Brooklyn Federal Court, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Ortiz is accused of taking two bribes, one for $5,000, the other for $7,000, to throw a ball instead of a strike as the first pitch of a specific at-bat on June 15 and on June 27. Clase, who rigged more than 100 pitches dating back to 2023, acted as the middleman between Ortiz and one of the bettors who gambled on the two throws, the feds allege.
Two gamblers put down a combined $13,000 on the June 15 pitch, winning $26,000, while a group of bettors staked $18,000 on the June 27 pitch, netting them a $37,000 payout, the feds allege.
Ortiz has denied the charges.
Luis Ortiz of the Cleveland Guardians pitches against the Detroit Tigers during the first inning at Comerica Park on May 24, 2025, in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images)
On Wednesday, Magistrate Judge Joseph Marutollo set Ortiz’s bond at $500,000, secured by his wife, and barred him from gambling as a condition of his release. He’s due back in court Dec. 2.
Ortiz and his lawyer, Elizabeth Geddes, said nothing to reporters as they left the courtroom.
Clase is expected to appear in court Thursday.
Cleveland Guardians’ Luis Ortiz leaves Brooklyn Federal Court, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
After the duo’s indictment, Major League Baseball on Tuesday set new limits on the types of bets that can be placed through online betting, capping wagers on individual pitches at $200 and banning them from being included in multi-part parlay bets.
The league suspended Clase and Ortiz in July amid a gambling probe and extended that leave indefinitely in August.
Court documents
Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz throws a ball low and to the left of home plate in a game against the Mariners in June 2025. (Court documents)
The pitchers were busted less than a month after three NBA stars — Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and former Cleveland Cavaliers player and coach Damon Jones — were indicted in Brooklyn in connection with a pair of sweeping gambling conspiracies. Those schemes included a mob plot that cheated players out of millions of dollars in rigged underground poker games, according to the feds.
Rozier and Jones are also charged with leaking inside information to accomplices who placed bets on online gambling platforms, in a case tied to the 2024 arrest of former Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter.