All the pitches, parlays and puppy emojis that went into Emmanuel Clase's indictment

Months after their suspension rocked the baseball world, we've finally had a bit more light shed on the gambling allegations that may well end the MLB careers of Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz. Federal prosecutors officially indicted both men on a host of charges on Sunday afternoon, and the indictment — which can be read in its entirety here — is somehow even bleaker than previously imagined.

According to Eastern District of New York, Clase and Ortiz are accused of taking part in a scheme to rig bets placed on pitches thrown during Guardians games. As previously reported, Clase and Ortiz allegedly threw intentional balls (often at the beginning of at-bats) so that bettors could cash bets placed on whether those pitches would be balls or strikes. But the full details are as lurid as they are grim, and show just how easy it is for legal and mobile gambling to wreak havoc on professional sports.

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Federal indictment sheds light on wild details of Emmanuel Clase, Luis Ortiz gambling scheme

While we already knew that Clase and Ortiz's suspensions revolved around throwing balls intentionally, that was just the tip of the iceberg. There were also fraudulent bets being placed on the speed of a given pitch, in which Clase and Ortiz would throw sliders on the first pitch of a given at-bat in order to help bettors cash in.

"Beginning on around May 2023," the indictment reads, "[Clase] agreed in advance with Bettor-1 on specific pitches that Clase would throw in certain MLB games. Usually, they agreed that [Clase] would throw balls (instead of strikes) or slower 'slider' pitches."

Clase was involved for more than two years, with Ortiz being roped in at the start of the 2025 season.

The value of these bets we in the thousands to tens of thousands — significant money for ordinary people, but a far cry from the six or seven figures that both players earned in annual salary. For example: Prosecutors allege that, on June 15, Ortiz was paid $5,000 to throw an intentional ball, while Clase was given an extra $5,000 for facilitating the bet and connecting Ortiz with illegal bettors. Over 100 bets were placed in all over a two-year period, with the total winnings of bettors running to some $460,000.

Of course, while the scheme was all too easy, it was hardly foolproof. The indictment claims that at one point Clase tried to throw a ball to start an at-bat ... only for the batter to unexpectedly swing anyway, foiling the plan. “Bettor-I allegedly texted Clase a GIF of a man hanging himself with toilet paper," prosecutors claim. "Clase replied with a GIF of a 'sad puppy dog face.'" It didn't take long for people to identify the potential culprit: Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages:

But while there's some unintentional comedy contained within, this is hardly a laughing matter, either for MLB or for the pitchers involved.

What punishment could Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz face if convicted?

Clase and Ortiz face up to 65 years in prison if convicted on all four counts: 20 years for wire fraud conspiracy, 20 years for honest services wire fraud conspiracy, five years for conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery and 20 for money laundering conspiracy.

It's unclear whether the two pitchers will have an opportunity to reach some sort of plea agreement or whether this case will ultimately go to trial. Right now, though, it's almost impossible to believe that either player will appear in a Major League game again: Gambling has been a third rail for over a century, for obvious reasons, and there's simply no way that MLB could weather the optics here.

More broadly, it also just goes to show how insidious mobile gambling can be. Unlike, say, the Terry Rozier allegations, these are some especially 2025 allegations, microtargeted bets made possible thanks to technology and instant communication. The fact that Clase and Ortiz were eventually caught is heartening, as is the fact that prosecutors don't allege that any games were actually affected by their actions, but this feels like a warning sign of things to come.