Prosecutors call Guardians pitchers cheaters in fraud trial
Clase and Ortiz face conspiracy charges in Brooklyn, with defense arguing a gambler's false claims drove the case.
By Amelia Gupta ·
A federal prosecutor in Brooklyn called two Cleveland Guardians pitchers cheaters on Wednesday as the criminal fraud trial against Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz entered its opening phase.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Urquiola told jurors that Clase, the team's former closer, befriended a sports betting gambler named Enoc Pena in the Dominican Republic in early 2023. The two shared interests in dominoes and cockfighting, and Clase eventually agreed to reveal which pitches he would throw in specific games. Urquiola stated that this arrangement allowed bettors to make at least $460,000 on platforms that wager on whether a pitch is a ball or a strike.
“The defendants, Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, are cheaters,” Urquiola said. “They sold their pitches.” She argued that Clase began sharing information in 2023 and recruited Ortiz, a starting pitcher, into the scheme in 2025. The prosecutor noted that Clase later sought kickbacks after seeing the profits generated by his pitches. Evidence for the government will include text messages where the pitchers used code words like chicken or rooster to describe rigged pitches, as well as testimony from gamblers.
Clase, 28, and Ortiz, 27, have both pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges. They are on non-disciplinary leave from the Guardians without pay. Clase was arrested in November 2025 and has been free on bail since. He is a three-time All-Star who was in the fourth year of a $20 million, five-year contract when the charges became public. Ortiz earned $782,600 for the 2025 season.
Defense attorneys argued that their clients are innocent and that the case rests on the false claims of Pena. Michael Bronson, representing Clase, said Pena falsely told other gamblers that he had inside information from the pitcher. Bronson described Pena as a 41-year-old man who made over 7,000 bets between 2023 and 2025 and had a history of lying. “He saw a mark,” Bronson said. He claimed that Pena was actually guessing which pitches Clase would throw and that gamblers lost more than 200 bets based on his predictions.
Bronson asked jurors to consider whether Clase would risk his fortune and career for a few thousand dollars. Samuel Landes, the attorney for Ortiz, stated that the pitcher had no contact with gamblers and that only two of his pitches, both balls, are at issue in the trial. “That's not a conspiracy. That's just baseball,” Landes said. He added that Ortiz was victimized by Pena's lies, including an allegation that Ortiz accepted $5,000 for tips despite receiving $1.7 million in advance for future contracts.
Landes noted that Pena struck a deal with prosecutors to avoid prison and remain in the United States despite lying on immigration and bank forms. Although Pena was listed as a potential witness, prosecutors said last week they do not intend to place him on the witness stand.
