Major League Baseball said its authorized gaming operators will cap bets on individual pitches at $200 and exclude them from parlays, a day after players were indicted and accused of rigging pitches at the behest of gamblers.
MLB said Monday the limits were agreed to by sportsbook operators representing more than 98% of the U.S. betting market. The league said in a statement that pitch-level bets on outcomes of pitch velocity and of balls and strikes 鈥減resent 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.鈥�
鈥淭he risk on these pitch-level markets will be significantly mitigated by this new action targeted at the incentive to engage in misconduct,鈥� the league said. 鈥淭he 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.鈥�
MLB said the agreement included Bally鈥檚, Bet365, BetMGM, Bet99, Betr, Caesars, Circa, DraftKings, 888, FanDuel, Gamewise, Hard Rock Bet, Intralot, Jack Entertainment, Mojo, Northstar Gaming, Oaklawn, Penn, Pointsbet, Potawatomi, Rush Street and Underdog.
Cleveland pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn on charges they took bribes from sports bettors to throw certain types of pitches. They were charged with wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery and money laundering conspiracy. The indictment says they helped two unnamed gamblers in the Dominican Republic win at least $460,000 on bets placed on the speed and outcome of certain pitches, including some that landed in the dirt.
Ortiz鈥檚 lawyer, Chris Georgalis, said in a statement that his client was innocent and 鈥渉as never, and would never, improperly influence a game 鈥� not for anyone and not for anything.鈥� A lawyer for Clase, Michael J. Ferrara, said his client 鈥渉as devoted his life to baseball and doing everything in his power to help his team win. Emmanuel is innocent of all charges and looks forward to clearing his name in court.鈥�
The U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 , allowing states to legalize sports betting.
in Boston. U.S. Magistrate Judge Donald L. Cabell granted Ortiz his release on the condition he surrender his passport, restrict his travel to the Northeast U.S. and post a $500,000 bond, $50,000 of it secured. Ortiz was ordered to avoid contact with anyone who could be viewed as a victim, witness or co-defendant.
Last month, more than 30 people, including Portland Trail Blazers head coach and Basketball Hall of Famer and Miami Heat guard were arrested in a takedown of two sprawling gambling operations that authorities said rigged poker games backed by Mafia families and leaked inside information about NBA athletes.
Billups鈥� attorney, Chris Heywood, issued a statement denying the allegations. Rozier鈥檚 lawyer, Jim Trusty, said in a statement his client is 鈥渘ot a gambler鈥� and 鈥渓ooks forward to winning this fight.鈥�
___
AP MLB:
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
