Guardians All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase and starting pitcher Luis Ortiz will remain on the restricted list “until further notice” as investigations into their alleged gambling continues, the team announced Sunday.
Ortiz was placed on leave in early July after a betting-integrity firm flagged two specific pitches that were bad misses — not even close to the strike zone — that also saw an increase of betting activity online on the side of either a ball or hit batsman.
On July 28, Clase was also placed on leave, though no further details have been reported in the aftermath.
Though Ortiz is a bit of a lesser name, Clase has been one of the best closers in baseball for several years. Last season, he finished third in AL Cy Young voting when he had a 0.61 ERA, 0.66 WHIP and 66 strikeouts with 47 saves in 74 ⅓ innings. The Guardians were in the ALCS last year. This season, they are 68-66 and three games out of a playoff spot.
As a reminder, Major League Baseball players are permitted to gamble on other sports but are strictly forbidden from gambling on so-called diamond sports, which include any baseball or softball games at any level. Rule 21, posted in every clubhouse in baseball, reads, “Any player, umpire or club or league official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform, shall be declared permanently ineligible.”
Last season, Tucupita Marcano was permanently banned from baseball due to gambling on games involving his own team. Four other players — Michael Kelly, Jay Groome, José Rodríguez and Andrew Saalfrank — were suspended for a year for gambling on baseball games in which they were not personally involved.
Earlier this year, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred removed Pete Rose, members of the 1919 Black Sox and a few others from the permanently ineligible list. All were banned from the game for betting on baseball. Manfred ruled that lifetime bans end upon the person’s death.