Guardians starter Luis L. Ortiz was pulled from his start Thursday, just hours before first pitch, and was placed on non-disciplinary paid leave through July 17. Major League Baseball would only say that Ortiz will be on paid leave through at least the All-Star break while it conducts an investigation. However, it is now being reported by ESPN's Jeff Passan that Ortiz is being investigated for two individual pitches, one from a game on June 15 and one from June 27, which were flagged by IC360, a betting integrity firm that alerted sportsbooks based on irregular voting patterns in Ohio, New York and New Jersey, for a first-pitch ball form Ortiz. Gambling on specific pitches are known as microbets.
These are the pitches in question:
MLB's investigation into Luis Ortiz is about these two individual pitches which received action flagged by a betting-integrity firm, per @JeffPassanpic.twitter.com/2zvZhmrTlJ
It's not that Ortiz threw a ball out of the strike zone, its that there was unusual betting around the fact he was going to throw one, and of particular interest was the betting patterns were on each occasion, occurred in different innings of the specific games, and involved Ortiz in each instance.
Ortiz, 26, is in his first season with the Guardians after being traded by the Pirates for Spencer Horwitz trade. Ortiz is 4-9 this season, with a 4.36 ERA, 1.376 WHIP, and 96 strikeouts in 88.2 innings pitched.
Maybe the Horwitz trade wasn't a disaster after all. At least the Pirates might be the only team to end up with an MLB player in the end.
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THE ASYLUM
Bob Maddamma
7:05 pm - 07.03.2025rochester, n.y.Guardians starter Luis L. Ortiz was pulled from his start Thursday, just hours before first pitch, and was placed on non-disciplinary paid leave through July 17. Major League Baseball would only say that Ortiz will be on paid leave through at least the All-Star break while it conducts an investigation. However, it is now being reported by ESPN's Jeff Passan that Ortiz is being investigated for two individual pitches, one from a game on June 15 and one from June 27, which were flagged by IC360, a betting integrity firm that alerted sportsbooks based on irregular voting patterns in Ohio, New York and New Jersey, for a first-pitch ball form Ortiz. Gambling on specific pitches are known as microbets.
These are the pitches in question:
It's not that Ortiz threw a ball out of the strike zone, its that there was unusual betting around the fact he was going to throw one, and of particular interest was the betting patterns were on each occasion, occurred in different innings of the specific games, and involved Ortiz in each instance.
Ortiz, 26, is in his first season with the Guardians after being traded by the Pirates for Spencer Horwitz trade. Ortiz is 4-9 this season, with a 4.36 ERA, 1.376 WHIP, and 96 strikeouts in 88.2 innings pitched.
Maybe the Horwitz trade wasn't a disaster after all. At least the Pirates might be the only team to end up with an MLB player in the end.
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
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