Guardians’ Luis Ortiz subject of MLB gambling investigation, placed on leave, AP sources say
Cleveland Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz is the subject of a Major League Baseball gambling inquiry and was placed on non-disciplinary leave Thursday two people with knowledge of the inspection stated The Associated Press The people spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the nature of the study The research is related to in-game prop bets on two pitches thrown by Ortiz that received higher activity than usual during his starts at Seattle on June and his modern outing against St Louis on June The gambling activity on the pitches was flagged by a betting-integrity firm and forwarded to MLB ESPN revealed the firm IC of late also sent an alert to sportsbook operators regarding Ortiz The Athletic was the first to record that Ortiz s suspension was related to gambling MLB announced Ortiz s paid leave is through the end of the All-Star break when players return to their teams July and games resume the following day It can be extended if the inspection remains ongoing Chris Antonetti Cleveland s president of baseball operations revealed before Thursday night s competition at the Chicago Cubs that the organization can continue to have contact with Ortiz but he can t enter any of the Guardians facilities Ortiz returned to Cleveland on Wednesday night Ortiz was slated to be the starting pitcher for Thursday night s series finale Instead left-hander Joey Cantillo was recalled from Triple-A Columbus Cantillo is - with one save and a ERA in appearances this season We learned very little last night but knew we needed to get someone here in contemporary times to start in the current era s match and that really was our focus Antonetti explained A lot has come out the present day and that s far more information than we have Our focus is we ll let the investigative process play out To the extent Major League Baseball or anyone requirements our promotion in that we will obviously cooperate But beyond that there s really not much we can do Manager Stephen Vogt announced he and Antonetti addressed the crew about Ortiz s situation and tried to answer questions the best they could It is another setback for a Guardians squad that has dropped a season-high six straight games and is - since May Honestly when I got the news the day before I didn t know how to feel Vogt declared There s so much unknowns with this but you know what Every club goes through adversity maybe different kinds but this is a resilient group I ve been through situations similar to this before in my career as a player and what would I have desired to hear How would I want the manager to have reacted and that s what I m trying to do The -year old Ortiz is in his first season with Cleveland after he was acquired in a arrangement with Pittsburgh last December The right-hander is - with a ERA and strikeouts in starts this season The nine losses are tied for the most of in the American League In four big-league seasons Ortiz is - with a ERA and one save The scrutiny into Ortiz comes a little more than a year after MLB suspended five players for gambling including a lifetime ban for San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano MLB commented Marcano placed baseball bets totaling more than with a legal sportsbook in and Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly and three minor leaguers San Diego pitcher Jay Groome Arizona pitcher and Philadelphia infielder Jos Rodr guez received one-year suspensions Umpire Pat Hoberg was fired by Major League Baseball in February for sharing his legal sports gambling accounts with a friend who bet on baseball games and for intentionally deleting electronic messages pertinent to the league s assessment Freelance writer Matt Carlson in Chicago contributed to this record AP MLB https apnews com hub mlb Source
