The pitch-rigging trial of two Cleveland Guardians pitchers got underway in earnest Wednesday.

"The defendants, Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, are cheaters," Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Urquiola told jurors in Brooklyn during opening statements. She said the two "sold their pitches."

Clase and Ortiz have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges. They were arrested in November 2025 and have been free on bail since. Both are on unpaid non-disciplinary leave from the Guardians.

The government's case

Urquiola said Clase befriended a sports bettor in the Dominican Republic in early 2023. The two shared an interest in dominoes and cockfighting.

Prosecutors say Clase began telling his friend what pitches he would throw. That allegedly helped gamblers win at least $460,000 on bets over whether a pitch would be a ball or a strike.

Urquiola said Clase later asked for kickbacks and recruited Ortiz in 2025. She said text messages using code words like "chicken" and "rooster" would help prove the case.

The defense

Clase's lawyer, Michael Bronson, said his client was the target of a gambler named Enoc Pena. He said Pena bragged that he had inside information while really just guessing.

Bronson said Pena and other gamblers lost more than 200 bets on Clase's pitches. He asked jurors whether Clase would risk "a fortune and his lifelong dream over a few thousand dollars."

Ortiz's lawyer, Samuel Landes, said only two of his client's pitches are at issue, both balls. "That's not a conspiracy. That's just baseball," he said.

Prosecutors have said they do not plan to call Pena as a witness.

Who they are

Clase, 28, is a three-time All-Star and two-time American League Reliever of the Year. Ortiz, 27, was a starter in Cleveland's rotation in 2025.