Luis

Ortiz

Passan adds that Ortiz was arrested earlier this weekend, while Clase is not currently in custody. The pair could face up to 65 years in prison if convicted on all charges, which include fraud, conspiracy, and bribery. Prosecutors allege that Ortiz was paid $5,000 for throwing an intentional ball June 15, with Clase receiving the same amount for facilitating it. The indictment also claims they repeated the scheme on June 27, earning $7,000 apiece. The pair of Guardians pitchers were placed on administrative leave in late July amid MLB’s ongoing sports-betting investigation and both appear highly unlikely to ever pitch in the majors again. A final decision on their status won’t come until the criminal proceedings play out. We’ll have updates on the developing situation as it unfolds.

Clase is on non-disciplinary paid leave and will not be allowed to take part in the winter-ball festivities. He and Luis L. Ortiz are both being investigated for potential ties into sports-betting, and there’s no timetable for either to return to the mound at this point.

Clase and Ortiz were placed on leave in late July amid the league’s sports-betting investigation and are highly unlikely to pitch again this season. Both will also be ineligible for the postseason, as they won’t be active within Cleveland’s organization by September 1. A final resolution and potential disciplinary ruling should come before the start of next season. Given the circumstances, it’s fair to wonder if either has thrown his last pitch in the majors.

Ortiz, who was a member of Cleveland’s rotation before being placed on leave on July 3, is reportedly being investigated in regard to prop bets made on his pitches while he was on the mound for two games in June.

According to Passan, those pitches were made June 15 and June 27 and both pitches were well outside of the strike zone to open innings. The assumption being that Ortiz could have thrown those pitches outside the strike zone on purpose, as first-pitch strike/ball to open an inning could be a “prop” on various websites. The 26-year-old right-hander was placed on non-disciplinary leave while being investigated.

The leave will extend through the All-Star break, and obviously his absence away from the club will be considerably higher — if not permanent — if he’s found to have violated the league’s policy. There should be considerably more details in the coming days, but don’t expect to see Ortiz on the mound soon.

We don’t yet know the reason why Ortiz was placed on non-disciplinary leave, but we do know that he will be out through the All-Star break because of an MLB investigation. We’ll await more details, but Ortiz can be dropped in most leagues since he will be out for three weeks at least. He was supposed to start tonight against the Cubs, but now Joey Cantillo will instead.

Ortiz gave up six hits, walked one and struck out five. Ortiz was really up against it in this one as the Guardians offense could only muster one hit let alone any runs against Cardinals ace Sonny Gray. It’s difficult to win like that and Ortiz was saddled with his ninth loss of the year. His ERA is up to 4.36 on the year while his 3.67 xFIP shows he’s been a bit better than that. Ortiz will look for better luck and maybe even some run support in his next start against the Cubs on the road next week.

Ortiz gave up just two hits, and both were singles. The 26-year-old was outstanding Saturday, and he generated an impressive 14 swings-and-misses among his 92 pitches. It’s a marked improvement from the six-run effort he put together against the Mariners on Sunday, and it improves his ERA to a still-shaky 4.30 over 80 2/3 innings. Ortiz will look to build on this effort against the Cardinals on Friday in St. Louis.

Ortiz struggled with his command in this one, issuing five free passes while striking out five batters on the afternoon. Most of the damage came during a five-run uprising in the second inning that was capped off by a grand slam off the bat of J.P. Crawford. The M’s added another run in the fifth in an RBI knock by Mitch Garver. Ortiz got 12 swings and misses on 104 pitches on the day, registering a CSW of 31 percent. He’ll try to put this one behind him and get back on track as he carries a 4.64 ERA, 1.47 WHIP and an 81/39 K/BB ratio (75 2/3 innings) into Saturday’s showdown against the Athletics in West Sacramento.