Notable twist emerges in the Emmanuel Clase gambling case

Some surprising new information has been uncovered in the Emmanuel Clase federal gambling case.

The Cleveland Guardians pitcher Clase is being accused of throwing suspect pitches to benefit bettors in at least 48 games over the span of two years, David Purdum of ESPN reported on Thursday. Purdum notes that is significantly more than was originally revealed by federal prosecutors.

A court document filed earlier in the day on Thursday made the surprise relevation. Clase is being accused of conspiring with bettors to manipulate his performance during Guardians games from 2023-2025. He appeared in 197 total regular season games over that span, meaning that Clase allegedly threw suspect pitches during nearly a quarter of those appearances.

You can read Purdum’s full report on the situation here.

Clase, 27, was a three-time All-Star for the Guardians from 2022-24 and led the American League in saves during all three of those years as well. But he (along with his teammate Luis Ortiz) got placed on leave by Major League Baseball last summer amid the gambling allegations. Clase and Ortiz are each now facing multiple federal charges related to fraud, conspiracy, and bribery and are looking at lengthy prison sentences as a result.

The accusations have to do with prop bets on individual pitches (whether or not the pitch would be a ball or a strike). Video has since emerged of questionable pitches that were thrown by Clase during the period for which he is under investigation for. Alleged text messages from Clase about the gambling scheme would later emerge as well.