CLEVELAND, Ohio – It looks bad.
That’s the underlying message from Major League Baseball after it announced
Guardians
pitcher Luis Ortiz will be out of action at least until Aug. 31.
The exact wording of the
news was this:
“MLB and the MLBPA have agreed to extend Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz’s non-disciplinary paid leave through games of Aug. 31 while MLB continues its investigation.”
MLB is looking into concerns that Ortiz intentionally threw two pitches for balls so that someone could win bets. Yes, you can bet that a certain pitch in a certain inning will be a ball or strike.
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MLB and the MLB Players Association both agreed on a longer leave for Ortiz. The original agreement between the two parties was announced on July 3, when Ortiz had to leave the Guardians. An update was supposed to come right after the All-Star break.
It came Friday.
Ortiz is now out at least until September.
What’s going on?
MLB must believe the Ortiz case is extremely serious.
MLB would have loved to discover this was a mistake, that the computer software tracking the betting actually didn’t find anything unusual. Then the Ortiz case could quietly go away.
Instead, it goes on.
That means the scope of the investigation could widen. They could be looking at all of Ortiz’s games and checking on his associations. Is anyone else involved? Apparently, MLB has more concerns.
One MLB’s biggest fears is that its players are involved in betting on games, and perhaps determining the outcome. The MLB preaches “Don’t bet on baseball” to its players.
The hypocrisy is evident.
Watch or listen to any MLB game and your senses will be assaulted with advertisements for sports betting. It shouldn’t be a surprise some players are enticed by possibly easy money. That can be from direct involvement (as is alleged with Ortiz). Or it could be supplying inside information about injuries and other things that would be useful to gamblers.
Careers in jeopardy
Last year, MLB suspended Pittsburgh Pirates infielder
Tucupita Marcano for life.
That’s because MLB says he bet on 25 Pittsburgh games. He didn’t play in any of them because he was out with a knee injury.
But simply betting on baseball led to the lifetime ban.
Four other minor leaguers were banned for a year for betting on Major League baseball games.
Marcano was a utility player. He appeared in 149 games between 2021-23, batting .233. I had never heard of the guy until he was suspended.
Ortiz is a bigger name than Marcano. The Guardians were excited when they obtained the right-hander from Pittsburgh in a three-way deal that sent Andrés Giménez to Toronto after the 2024 season. Ortiz has a 4-9 record and 4.36 ERA this season. Cleveland was pleased with the progress he was making as a starter.
Marcona is 25. It appears his big league career is over unless he appeals at some point and MLB reinstates him.
As for Ortiz, he’s 26. At the very least, he probably won’t pitch for Cleveland again this season. He isn’t allowed to work out with the team or at the Guardians training facility in Goodyear.
He’s on his own.
Even if he’s cleared on Sept. 1, it will be at least two months since he has pitched in a big league game. It’s unlikely he can get himself back into shape that fast to help the Guardians in 2025.
In the meantime, he’ll wait to see if an even bigger penalty awaits him.
