Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase, one of the biggest names at the MLB trade deadline, is under a league investigation related to gambling, the team announced Monday.
Clase, 27, is now the second Guardians pitcher to be subject to a gambling probe. Starter Luis Ortiz was placed on paid leave after his name surfaced in the same investigation in early July.
“We have been informed that no additional players or club personnel are expected to be impacted,” the Guardians said in a statement.
Clase will remain on leave through at least Aug. 31. When Ortiz was first named in the gambling probe, his leave was officially announced through July 18, but it has since been extended to Aug. 31.
As the Guardians’ closer, Clase had a disproportionate ability to affect the outcomes of the team’s games. After pitching to a preposterous 0.61 ERA last season, Clase’s ERA climbed to a merely above average 3.23 this season.
With the MLB trade deadline approaching on July 31 and the Guardians stuck at 52-53, he was one of the bigger names in trade rumors before Monday’s news broke.
In Ortiz’s case, gambling regulators flagged suspicious bets pertaining to whether specific pitches would be balls or strikes. In at least two cases, money came in on Ortiz to throw balls to start certain innings, and in both cases Ortiz delivered pitches nowhere near the strike zone.
Ortiz and Clase are not the first MLB players to face gambling investigations since the Supreme Court struck down a nationwide ban on sports betting in 2018. Last year, San Diego Padres and Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Tucupita Marcano was banned from MLB for life for betting on games. Four other players were suspended one year for betting on major league games while in the minor leagues.
With News Wire Services
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