Could Sportsbooks Spot Manipulated Pitches?

Former Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz are on trial in federal court. Prosecutors allege that the two players deliberately manipulated some pitches and that bets placed on those pitches produced winnings. Both defendants deny the charges.

According to prosecutors, Clase allegedly told bettors in advance which pitches would be thrown outside the strike zone or below a certain speed. Ortiz's involvement began in June 2025, and the indictment cites two pitches it describes as deliberately manipulated. Bettors allegedly won at least $400,000 on Clase's pitches and $60,000 on Ortiz's. The indictment describes these amounts as betting gains, not payments made to the players.

The indictment states that on June 27, 2025, during a game against the St. Louis Cardinals, about $18,000 was wagered that the first pitch of the third inning by Ortiz would be a ball. It was a ball, and the payout was about $37,000.

Adam Bjorn, CEO of Plannatech Group, heads the company that operates Prime Sportsbook and Betcris. Bjorn, who says he has been setting odds for more than thirty years, notes that suspicious bets can be noticed, but that this does not mean every manipulation will be caught. In his view, the two Ortiz pitches were spotted quickly, while establishing the link on the Clase side took much longer.

According to Bjorn, the account activity itself is more decisive than the pitch. Monitoring tracks who bets, when, how much, and whether that behavior matches the customer's history. A sudden surge of several accounts backing a rare outcome that they had not previously shown interest in is seen as a notable warning sign.