A day after two Major League Baseball pitchers were indicted for allegedly collaborating in a scheme to rig bets on MLB video games, the league introduced it has labored with accomplice sportsbooks to restrict prop bets on pitches thrown.
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“Effective immediately, all MLB Authorized Gaming Operators will cap wagers on pitch-level markets at $200 and exclude those bets from parlays,” MLB stated in a press release.
The cap will prohibit the quantity wagered on particular person pitches earlier than they’re delivered – ball, strike and pitch velocity – whereas banning parlaying every pitch consequence throughout a recreation.
NCS has requested the league whether or not the new “micro-bet” restriction was a response to accusations that Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz rigged pitches whereas enjoying.
MLB commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr. stated in a press release Monday that he counseled “the industry for working with us to take action on a national solution to address the risks posed by these pitch-level markets, which are particularly vulnerable to integrity concerns.”
Clase and Ortiz face prices on a number of counts of wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to affect sporting contests by bribery, cash laundering conspiracy and extra, in keeping with prosecutors on Sunday.
Both Clase and Ortiz have maintained their innocence by way of their attorneys.
“There is no credible evidence Luis knowingly did anything other than try to win games, with every pitch and in every inning,” Ortiz’s lawyer Chris Georgalis instructed NCS in an electronic mail on Sunday. “Luis looks forward to fighting these charges in court.”
Clase’s lawyer, Michael J. Ferrara, additionally instructed NCS that his shopper is “innocent of all charges and looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
Both gamers have been positioned on non-disciplinary go away throughout the 2025 MLB season in relation to a sports activities betting probe.
Ortiz appeared in federal court docket in Boston on Monday. According to the Associated Press, US Magistrate Judge Donald Cabell launched Ortiz on a $500,000 bond, mandated that the 26-year-old relinquish his passport, and restricted his journey to the native space, amongst different stipulations.
NCS has reached out to the court docket for particulars.
The indictment alleges “the defendants agreed in advance with their co-conspirators on specific pitches that they would throw in MLB games. The co-conspirators then used that information to place hundreds of fraudulent bets on those pitches.”
Clase’s involvement in the scheme is alleged to have began in 2023. The three-time All-Star coordinated with corrupt sports activities bettors to rig proposition bets on specific pitches he would throw, prosecutors say.
The bettors would then wager on the velocity and sort of Clase’s pitches, based mostly on info they obtained in advance from Clase, generally even throughout video games, per the indictment.
The DOJ says bettors received not less than $400,000 utilizing inside info on Clase’s pitches.
Ortiz is accused of becoming a member of the enterprise in 2025, working alongside Clase to coordinate with bettors on rigged pitches he would throw.
Prosecutors allege Ortiz was paid a complete of $12,000 to deliberately throw a ball as a substitute of a strike in two MLB video games. Clase allegedly obtained matching funds for his function in serving to to rearrange Ortiz’s rigged pitches, the feds say, with gamblers profitable not less than $60,000 in the method.
The indictment, which was filed on Wednesday and unsealed Sunday, comes on the heels of a collection of similar indictments involving Portland Trail Blazers head coach and basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA journeyman Damon Jones.
The trio was arrested in October in relation to 2 separate federal gambling investigations, one involving rigged high-stakes poker video games and the opposite involving insider buying and selling in sports activities betting.
Both the MLB and NBA circumstances are being dealt with by Nocella’s Brooklyn workplace.
If convicted of all prices, Clase and Ortiz might probably face many years behind bars.
NCS’s Amanda Musa contributed to this report.