Guardians’ Luis Ortiz Under Investigation Over Alleged Gambling

Cleveland Guardians right-hander Luis Ortiz is under investigation by Major League Baseball for breaking the league’s rules on sports gambling, and he has been placed on “non-disciplinary paid leave” through July 17.

The investigation into Ortiz’s alleged betting comes a little more than a year after MLB levied a lifetime ban against San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano for placing nearly 400 bets on baseball. Four other players received one-year suspensions for gambling on baseball while in the minor leagues.

The paid leave for Ortiz, which ends at the conclusion of the All-Star break, was negotiated between the league and the MLB Players Association. If the investigation remains open, the leave could be extended.

A 26-year-old starting pitcher, Ortiz was acquired by the Guardians from the Pittsburgh Pirates over the winter as part of the three-team trade in which the Guardians sent second baseman Andres Gimenez to the Toronto Blue Jays. With a 4-9 record and 4.36 ERA, Ortiz has been a staple in a Guardians rotation whose 4.13 ERA ranks 18th in MLB.

“This is a guy that was giving them consistently six innings,” Guardians beat writer Paul Hoyes explained. “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.”

Ortiz’s leave comes amid a slide for the Guardians, who have lost six consecutive games to drop to 40-44. While the Guardians remain in second place in the American League Central, they trail the first-place Detroit Tigers by 12½ games.

Ortiz signed with the Pirates in 2018 at 19 years old, far later than the typical prospect, and didn’t reach full-season ball until 2021. He quickly shot through the Pirates organization and debuted in 2022, eventually throwing 238⅓ innings and posting a 3.93 ERA in his three seasons with the Pirates.