Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase has reportedly been placed on non-disciplinary paid leave as part of Major League Baseball’s gambling investigation.
Clase pitched in both games of a doubleheader on Saturday against the Royals in what will likely be his final MLB action for some time.
Clase is on paid leave through August 31, per ESPN, and has the same designation as teammate Luis Ortiz, who is also connected with the betting probe.
Clase is viewed as one of the elite relief pitchers in baseball, giving a severe handicap to the Guardians, who are looking to stay in contention in the American League Wild Card race.
The Guardians said in a statement – ‘The Guardians have been notified by Major League Baseball that as part if their sports betting investigation Emmanuel Clase has been placed on non-disciplinary paid leave per an agreement with the Players Association.’
‘We have been informed that no additional players or club personnel are expected to be impacted.’
Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase has reportedly been placed on non-disciplinary paid leave
Clase has the same designation as teammate Luis Ortiz, who is also connected with the probe
‘The Guardians are not permitted to comment further at this time, and will respect the league’s confidential investigative process as we continue to fully cooperate.’
Clase’s exact ties to the investigation are unclear, as are how many games have activity that the league is reviewing, as well as the exact amount of pitches under the probe.
Ortiz has been on paid leave since July 3 after unusual gambling activity spiked on two pitches he threw for balls, in June games a dozen days apart. Ortiz’s leave lasts until the exact same day as Clase.
The probe has been ongoing for nearly a month, since the league first became aware of the abnormalities in the betting market.
In Ortiz’s case, unusual amounts of money were wagered on the pitches from the June 15 and 27 games being a ball or hit-batsman from betting accounts, per ESPN. Both pitches wound up well outside the strike zone.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred spoke about the investigation earlier this month.
‘There are certain types of bets that strike me as unnecessary and particularly vulnerable,’ Manfred said. ‘I know there was a lot of sports betting, tons of it that went on illegally and we had no idea, no idea what threats there were to the integrity of the play because it was all not transparent.’
‘I firmly believe that the transparency and monitoring that we have in place now, as a result of the legalization and the partnerships that we’ve made, puts us in a better position to protect baseball than we were in before.’
