Just 13 months after San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano was slammed with a lifetime ban for betting on baseball, MLB has opening a new gambling investigation, this time looking at a Cleveland Guardians pitcher, according to a report Thursday by ESPN baseball insider Jeff Passan.
The pitcher named in the ESPN report is 26-year-old Luis Ortiz, who was acquired by Cleveland over the offseason from the Pittsburgh Pirates as part of a three-team trade that also involved the Toronto Blue Jays.
He is often referred to as Luis L. Ortiz, to distinguish him from another pitcher named Luis Ortiz, the Texas Rangers 2014 first-round draft pick who is currently in the New York Mets organization but sidelined with Tommy John surgery.
The Guardians’ Ortiz was placed Thursday on “non-disciplinary” leave, with pay, at least through July 17, according to the Passan report.
The length of the leave was determined in negotiations between the league office and the MLB Players Association, but it could continue past the 17th — which is the day before teams resume play following the All-Star break — if the MLB investigation has not yet concluded.
MLB officials have said they will not comment on the investigation, but Passan reported that sources have told ESPN the probe is related to gambling.
“The Guardians have been notified that Luis Ortiz has been placed on leave per an agreement with the Players Association due to an ongoing league investigation,” the Cleveland organization said in a prepared statement, quoted by ESPN.com. “The Guardians are not permitted to comment further at this time and will respect the league’s confidential investigative process.”
But reporters Zack Meisel and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic independently confirmed from sources on Thursday that the investigation into Ortiz in gambling-related.
Ortiz was scheduled to be the Guardians’ starting pitcher for Thursday’s night’s game at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs. Instead, 25-year-old lefty Joey Cantillo was recalled from the Triple-A Columbus Clippers to take the start in place of Ortiz.
The sudden absence of Ortiz comes as a blow to the Guardians, as they struggle to remain in contention for a postseason berth. Despite a 40-44 record heading into Thursday’s action, Cleveland remains just four games out of the third AL Wild Card spot.
“This is a guy that was giving them consistently six innings,” according to Cleveland.com Guardians beat writer Paul Hoynes. “He gave them innings, he gave them strikeouts. He’d have one bad start, one good start. But he was part of that young rotation that they were developing, that they thought was together, making progress.”
In three seasons with the Pirates, Ortiz recorded a 3.93 ERA with 183 strikeouts in 238 1/3 innings. In his 16 starts with Cleveland, Ortiz has posted a 4.26 ERA and is tied for the AL lead in pitcher losses with nine.
But has Ortiz made his last start in a Cleveland, or even a Major League, uniform?
That depends on the outcome of the investigation. Marcano was hit with a permanent ban when an MLB investigation found that he had placed 387 bets on baseball with a legal sports betting operation, for upwards of $150,000, according to a report by the Associated Press.
Guardians Starting Pitcher Faces Gambling Probe, Placed on ‘Leave,’ Report Says