MLB announced Monday that all league-authorized sportsbooks will now limit pitch prop bets to no more than $200 in response to a federal indictment that ensnared two Cleveland Guardians pitchers.
On Sunday, Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were accused of rigging bets on particular pitches in games last season.
Ortiz was arrested in Boston and was scheduled to appear in federal court on Monday. Clase was not in custody in the United States.
Both players face four charges: wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery, and money laundering conspiracy. If found guilty of all charges, they could spend a maximum of 65 years in prison.
Called micro-bets, it is possible to wager on whether a pitch is a ball or a strike, or even wager on the pitch velocity. In addition to limiting the wagers on pitches, MLB-authorized sportsbooks also will eliminate them from parlays.
“… Micro-bets pitch-level markets present heightened integrity risks because they focus on one-off events that can be determined by a single player and can be inconsequential to the outcome of the game,” MLB said in a statement. “The risk on these pitch-level markets will be significantly mitigated by this new action targeted at the incentive to engage in misconduct.”
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Ortiz allegedly was paid $5,000 to throw a ball on purpose in Cleveland’s June 15 game against the Seattle Mariners, with Clase getting the same amount for setting it up.
For a June 27 game against the St. Louis Cardinals, they each received $7,000 for a similar act, according to the indictment. That was the final game Ortiz pitched in 2025.
Clase, a three-time American League All-Star, earned a base salary of $4.5 million in 2025 during the third season of a five-year, $20 million contract that includes a $10 million option for 2028. Ortiz was playing on a one-year, $782,600 contract last season.
“Since the Supreme Court decision opened the door to legalized sports betting, Major League Baseball has continuously worked with industry and regulatory stakeholders across the country to uphold our most important priority: protecting the integrity of our games for the fans,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement Monday.
