Report: Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz placed on leave amid MLB gambling investigation

Cleveland Guardians right-handed pitcher Luis Ortiz is reportedly under investigation by MLB regarding gambling activities. Ken Rosenthal and Zack Meisel of The Athletic were the first to report the investigation.

Luis Ortiz is on paid leave while MLB completes its investigation. That “non-disciplinary” paid leave will run through the All-Star Break, which is coming up in a couple of weeks. The All-Star Game itself is scheduled for July 15th. Ortiz had previously been scheduled to pitch on Thursday night, but won’t be able to anymore. In his place, Cleveland will turn to Joey Cantillo.

The Cleveland Guardians released their own statement on the investigation. In it, they shared they’re not allowed to comment further at this time.

“The Guardians have been notified by Major League Baseball that Luis Ortiz has been placed on leave per an agreement with the Players Association due to an ongoing league investigation,” the statement read. “The Guardians are not permitted to comment further at this time, and will respect the league’s confidential investigation process.”

Luis Ortiz has played for Cleveland since December of 2024. He was traded to the Guardians from the Pittsburgh Pirates in a deal for Spencer Horwitz. Since then, he’s pitched in 16 games, all of which were starts. In 88.2 innings pitched, he has a 4.36 ERA and 96 strikeouts to 42 walks during that time. That’s 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings pitched.

For his entire major league career, Ortiz has a 16-22 record. He also has a 4.05 career ERA over 327 innings pitched and 279 strikeouts.

This comes at a time when gambling investigations have picked up into athletes across various sports. The NBA recently had a player, Malik Beasley become the subject of a federal gambling investigation. MLB is no different, and the league that recently reinstated players like Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson for their past gambling offenses has still come down harshly on active personnel who are in gambling investigations.

San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano was banned for life in 2024 for betting on his own team. Four other players recently received a year-long ban for betting on baseball, but not on their own teams. Even an MLB umpire, Pat Hoberg, was fired for bets coming from an account he shared with a friend gambling on baseball games.

The 26-year-old Luis Ortiz is a native of the Dominican Republic. In 2018, he signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates as an International Free Agent. He would make his MLB debut with the Pirates in 2022.