Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz described as “cheaters” at the trial

and Luis Ortiz were described by a prosecutor Wednesday as “cheaters” during opening statements on a New York criminal fraud trial that puts a spotlight on the threat gamblers America’s relationship.gambler in the Dominican Republic in early 2023 who shared his interest in dominoes and cockfighting, which is legal in his home country.

Clase eventually agreed to tell “his new friend” what kinds of pitches he would throw in certain games, so players could reap at least $460,000 on platforms that let customers bet on whether a pitch would be a ball or a strike, she said.

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“The defendants, Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, are cheaters,” Urquiola told jurors. She said they “sold their seats.” Clase, the Guardians’ former star closer, and Ortiz, a starter, have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges and are on non-disciplinary leave from the club without pay while in court. They were arrested in November 2025 and have since been released on bail.

Prosecutors said that Clase began giving information about his places to bettors in 2023 and recruited Ortiz into the scheme in 2025. Clase, 28, is a three-time All-Star and two-time American League reliever of the year who had completed the fourth season of a $20 million, five-year contract when conspiracy and fraud were made public on November 20.

Urquiola said Clase saw gamblers taking advantage of his land and “decided it wasn’t enough to help his friends make money,” so he asked for a refund. She said text messages in which the pitchers described rigged pitches and bets, sometimes using code words like “chicken” or “rooster”, along with testimony from some gamblers, would prove the case of the government.

Defense attorneys, however, said their clients were innocent and that a player who acquitted Clase had falsely claimed to other players that the pitcher was providing inside information about his pitches and was trying to sell them the information. Michael Bronson, a lawyer for Clase, said his client attended school until age 15 in a small coastal village in the Dominican Republic before focusing on baseball and becoming “a standout, a superstar” with a reputation for shutting out teams in the last inning of games.

He said Clase was 25 in the spring of 2023 when he met a 41-year-old gambler, Enoc Pena, who made over 7,000 bets from 2023 to 2025 and had a history of lying to get what he wanted. Soon, Pena brought Clase food and picked him up at the airport in the Dominican Republic, the attorney said. The pitcher, in turn, gave him tickets to Guardians games and loaned him money.

When Pena bragged to fellow gamblers that he was close to Clase and tried to sell them information, he was actually guessing which lands Clase would throw in games and with fellow gamblers losing over 200 bets on Clase lands to lose, said the lawyer. Pena is “selling lies,” Bronson said, urging jurors to ask themselves whether his client would “risk a fortune and his lifelong dream over a few thousand dollars.

“Lawyer Samuel Landes, representing Ortiz, told jurors in an opening statement that the pitcher had no contact with gamblers and that only two of his pitches, both balls, are in the trial in the game. At one point, Landes asked his client to stand as he introduced him to the jury. Ortiz stood up and waved.

Landes said Ortiz was the victim of Pena’s lies, including allegations that the pitcher — who received $1.7 million in advance for future contracts and stood to make millions more — accepted $5,000 for tips about his pitches. Landes said Pena made a deal with prosecutors that allows him to avoid prison and remain in the United States despite lying to banks and about his marital status on immigration forms.

Although Pena was once listed as a possible witness at the trial, prosecutors said last week that they do not intend to put him on the witness stand. Mariners Hire Cubs’ Farm Director Jason Kanzler As New ManagerThe Top 50 MLB Free Agents Of The 2026-27 Offseason, Ranking 3 Best MLB Free Agent Passes For Randy Arozarena If He Leaves MarinersFOX SPORTS™, SPEED™, SPEED. COM™ & © 2026 Fox Media LLC and Fox Sports Interactive Media, LLC.