MLB Pitcher’s Paid Leave Extended Through August As Betting Probe Continues

The paid leave for Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz has been extended to the end of next month as Major League baseball continues an investigation that reportedly centers around gambling infractions.

The 26-year-old right hander was originally placed on non-disciplinary paid leave through the end of the All-Star break earlier this month. The MLB All-Star Game was earlier this week, but it looks like the probe isn’t done. MLB and the MLB Players Association issued a statement saying they have agreed to extend Ortiz’s leave while the investigation continues.

“We have been informed of the extension and will continue to fully cooperate with the investigation,” the Guardians said in a social media post.

ESPN reported the investigation relates to two individual pitches thrown by Ortiz, one during a game on June 15 and another on June 27. The first, per ESPN, is when Ortiz opened the second inning with a slider “well outside the strike zone,” and the second when he opened the third inning with a slider “ever farther outside the strike zone.”

The internet found the pitches being probed, which don’t look great.

MLB and the other major pro sports leagues have been forced to grapple with a host of sports betting issues since the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which had effectively prohibited sports betting outside Nevada and a handful of states with sports lotteries.

Last June, MLB announced that an internal investigation resulted in then-Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano being banned for life, while then–Oakland Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly and three minor leaguers received one-year bans.

Also last year, Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter of Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, was found to have stolen more than $16 million from Ohtani to fund his gambling addiction. Mizuhara pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud last June, and in February was sentenced to 57 months in prison. That same month, MLB fired umpire Pat Hoberg for sharing betting accounts with a friend who bet actively on the sport. 

In the NBA, free agent Malik Beasley is reportedly under federal investigation over betting allegations related to wagers made on games during the 2023–24 season, when he was with the Bucks, and “prop” bets. 

Beasley was the third NBA player to face gambling-related accusations in under two years, with the other two being Terry Rozier and Jontay Porter. Beasley and Rozier have not been charged with any crime or penalized by the league at this point, while Porter was banned from the NBA for life last April. Rozier’s attorney, Jim Trusty, recently confirmed to Front Office Sports that he is still under federal investigation.

In 2023, five NFL players were suspended for violating the league’s gambling policy. Before that, Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley was suspended for the entire 2022 season after being caught betting on games.

In October 2023, the NHL suspended Senators player Shane Pinto for about half the season due to violations of the league’s sports betting rules.