MLB, sportsbooks agree to cap bets on individual pitches after rigging accusations

Major U.S. sportsbooks have agreed to set a nationwide $200 betting limit on baseball wagers covering individual pitches after two Cleveland Guardians players were indicted for rigging pitches, MLB announced.

The prohibition extends to including those proposition bets in parlays in an attempt to diminish the chance for manipulation.

On Sunday, Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were accused in a 23-page indictment of rigging pitches thrown during major league baseball games.

The indictment stated that Clase arranged with a bettor as early as May 2023 to throw specific pitches for balls so the gambler could place prop bets and profit. Ortiz joined the scheme in June 2025, and between the two, gamblers won at least $450,000 wagering on their pitches, prosecutors said.

Ortiz appeared in a federal court in Boston on Monday, a day after his arrest. He was released on the conditions that he surrender his passport, restrict his travel to the northeastern U.S. and post $500,000 bail.

Clase was not in custody and was out of the country. He is a native of the Dominican Republic.

Clase’s agent and Ortiz’s attorney have denied the charges.

On Monday, MLB said that sportsbooks representing more than 98% of the U.S. wagering market agreed to the limits.

That includes Bally’s, Bet365, BetMGM, Bet99, Betr, Caesars, Circa, DraftKings, 888, Fanatics, FanDuel, Gamewise, Hard Rock Bet, Intralot, Jack Entertainment, Mojo, Northstar Gaming, Oaklawn, Penn, Pointsbet, Potawatomi, Rush Street and Underdog.

In a statement, MLB said that pitch-level bets on outcomes of pitch velocity and of balls and strikes “present heightened integrity risks because they focus on one-off events that can be determined by a single player and can be inconsequential to the outcome of the game.”

“The risk on these pitch-level markets will be significantly mitigated by this new action targeted at the incentive to engage in misconduct,” MLB said. “The creation of a strict bet limit on this type of bet, and the ban on parlaying them, reduces the payout for these markets and the ability to circumvent the new limit.”

Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement that MLB has worked with sportsbooks over the past seven years to “uphold our most important priority: protecting the integrity of our games for the fans.”

“I commend the industry for working with us to take action on a national solution to address the risks posed by these pitch-level markets, which are particularly vulnerable to integrity concerns,” Manfred added, thanking Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine for guidance.

“In collaboration with Major League Baseball, we have adjusted certain bet types to further deter bad actors while helping maintain fairness and trust in the game,” a DraftKings spokesperson told ESPN.

DeWine called for a ban on proposition bets such as individual pitches after MLB launched its investigation in July into alleged betting activities tied to Ortiz and Clase.

“By limiting the ability to place large wagers on micro-prop bets, Major League Baseball is taking affirmative steps to protect the integrity of the game and reduce the incentives to participate in improper betting schemes,” DeWine said in a statement. “I urge other sports leagues to follow Major League Baseball’s example with similar action.”

FanDuel, which officially partners with MLB, commended the cap on prop bets.

“This initiative illustrates our unwavering commitment to building a legal and regulated market that roots out abuses by those who seek to undermine fair competition and damage the integrity of the games we love,” company spokesperson Christian Genetski said in a statement.

Some form of sports gambling is legal and regulated in 38 states, along with Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

In 2018, the Supreme Court ruled in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association that sports were allowed to regulate sports gambling. That decision overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, a federal law that had limited legal betting primarily to Nevada.

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