Prosecutors call Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz 'cheaters' as the Guardians pitchers' trial opens

The pitch-rigging trial of Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz opened Wednesday in Brooklyn, and the prosecution's first word for them was "cheaters."

"The defendants, Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, are cheaters," Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Urquiola told the jury, according to the Associated Press. "They sold their pitches."

The charges

Clase, 28, is accused of rigging at least 18 pitches in 17 games from May 2023 to May 2025, often by throwing a ball on purpose or tipping bettors that an off-speed pitch was coming, ESPN reported. Ortiz, 27, is accused of joining in June 2025 and manipulating two pitches in two games. Both have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and honest services fraud, sports bribery and money laundering.

Prosecutors said the bets paid gamblers at least $460,000 on markets that let customers wager on whether a single pitch is a ball or a strike. They told jurors that text messages using code words such as "chicken" and "rooster," plus testimony from some gamblers, would prove it.

The defense

Both defenses pointed at Enoc Pena, a bettor who befriended Clase in the Dominican Republic in 2023. Clase's lawyer, Michael Bronson, said Pena made more than 7,000 bets from 2023 to 2025 and lied to other gamblers about having inside information. "He saw a mark," Bronson said.

Ortiz's lawyer, Samuel Landes, said his client never talked to a gambler and that only two of his pitches, both balls, are in question. "That's not a conspiracy. That's just baseball," Landes said.

Pena has a deal with prosecutors, and they have said they won't call him as a witness.

The take

The money argument is the defense's best line. Clase has earned more than $13 million in seven seasons and was four years into a five-year, $20 million contract when the charges came out in November 2025. Ortiz made $782,600 in 2025. Both are on unpaid leave from the club.

The prosecution brought in the industry on day one. MLB baseball operations counsel Paul Mifsud testified that tipping a bettor would break the loyalty clause in every player contract, and Joel Trella, who runs DraftKings' special investigations unit, walked jurors through the sportsbook's review of linked accounts betting on Clase's pitches. Trella's cross-examination resumes Thursday.