Cockfighting Emerges as Key Point in Emmanuel Clase’s Defense
Emmanuel Clase, one of the Cleveland Guardians pitchers accused of informing gamblers about the results of certain pitches, is using cockfighting in his defense.
Federal prosecutors claim Clase and his Guardians teammate Luis Ortiz told bettors in advance that their pitches would be balls or under a certain speed.
In a court filing supporting both players (via New York Times), Clase’s attorney Michael Ferrara asserts that witnesses for the defense “universally denied the existence of any criminal conspiracy and expressly testified that they never received any form of information or assistance from Messrs. Clase or Ortiz, directly or indirectly, to assist them in winning a bet.”
While one witness acknowledges communicating with Clase about gambling, the communication was about cockfighting, not baseball, the defense says.
“While completely denying any communications or discussions with Mr. Clase regarding gambling on baseball, Bettor 1 testified that he did have communications with Mr. Clase regarding gambling on rooster fights in the Dominican Republic.”
The players are alleged to have texted with gamblers during games.
Prosecutors have erroneously interpreted these messages as code for communicating about baseball, according to Ferrara.
Cockfighting is legal in the Dominican Republic, and Clase is a well-known participant in the sport, Ferrara writes.
Prosecution Withholding Evidence, Defense Claims
Ferrara claims the US government has withheld potentially exonerating information from the defense, including text messages from bettors’ phones about rooster fighting and horses and other livestock.
Clase and Ortiz are both “horse enthusiasts,” per the court filing.
The defense has not been “deprived of the meaningful opportunity to comb through the thousands of Spanish-language messages to identify information inconsistent with the government’s allegations.”
The Case Against Clase and Ortiz
Clase is accused of providing inside information about his pitches to gamblers beginning in May 2023. Ortiz’s alleged participation started during the 2025 MLB season.
After tipping off the gamblers, Luis and Ortiz intentionally threw certain pitches well outside the strike zone or sliders instead of fastballs.
Gamblers profited over $450,000 from the information, the government claims. The figure has shocked some sports betting industry observers, surprised that sportsbooks allowed such high limits on bets tied to a single pitch.
Since these allegations surfaced, regulated US sportsbooks agreed to impose $200 limits on such wagers.
Clase and Ortiz were allegedly paid off by gamblers for sharing information, another surprising aspect of the case given the players’ salaries and bright futures.
Both players have been placed in administrative leave by MLB. Their trial is scheduled to begin in May.
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