In a news development no one saw coming, the Cleveland Guardians were forced to make a late pitching change on Thursday after Major League Baseball placed starter Luis Ortiz on non-disciplinary paid leave amid all the ongoing investigation. The 26-year-old had been scheduled to start against the Chicago Cubs before the unexpected announcement sent shockwaves across the league.

What Happened to Luis Ortiz? Why is he Under Investigation?

Luis Ortiz joined the Cleveland Guardians in December from the Pittsburgh Pirates as part of the Spencer Horwitz trade. And since then, he has been a consistent arm in Cleveland’s rotation this season. Over 16 starts, he has logged 88 2/3 innings with a 4.36 ERA and a 25.1% strikeout rate, which are solid numbers for a first-year Guardian.

But just hours before his scheduled start, he was suddenly pulled from the lineup. Shortly after, the Guardians issued a brief statement confirming that Ortiz has been placed on paid leave due to an ongoing MLB investigation into him.

“The Guardians have been notified that Luis Ortiz has been placed on leave per an agreement with the Players Association due to an ongoing league investigation. The Guardians are not permitted to comment further at this time and will respect the league’s confidential investigative process.” Now they are tight-lipped about what exactly happened.

However, internet sleuths are on, and there is, of course, some speculation. One social media handle said that Luis Ortiz is under the scanner due to sports gambling. “Sources: #Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz is under investigation for illegal sports gambling. More on this story to come.” While this claim remains unformed by the MLB or the Cleveland Guardians, it has only added fuel to the rumors and the nature of the investigation.

Even Jeff Passan has since posted, “Cleveland Guardians right-hander Luis Ortiz is under investigation for gambling, a source confirms to ESPN. Ortiz was placed on paid leave by MLB earlier today amid a league investigation into gambling activities. First on the news of gambling were @Ken_Rosenthal and @ZackMeisel.

Now it turns out that Luis Ortiz’s situation might be more complicated than it first seemed. Jeff Passan just revealed that sources say that back in June, a betting integrity firm called IC360 flagged something unusual and sent out an alert. The alert had to do with Ortiz!

Apparently, the alert mentioned some fishy betting action around the first pitches Ortiz threw in two games. First, June 15 against the Mariners and June 27 against the Cardinals. In both games, he opened a specific inning with a slider that missed the strike zone by a mile.

In one case, it was a ball, and in another, it nearly hit the batter. Now, what is interesting is the bets raised red flags that weren’t on the outcome of the game or even the inning. They were microbets, placed specifically on what Ortiz’s first pitch of those innings would be like. And that betting activity on those pitches showed up in states like Ohio, New York, and New Jersey.

MLB’s Official Statement on Luis Ortiz Investigation

Major League Baseball has released its own statement, confirming that Luis Ortiz has been placed on non-disciplinary paid leave through July 17. This aligns with the end of the all-star break. The league also highlighted that the leave was mutually agreed upon by the MLB Players Association.

“We will not comment further until the investigation has been completed,” the statement by MLB concluded.

Now, Ortiz’s absence comes at a challenging time for the Guardians. This is because they are in a six-game skid and battling injuries to their key pitchers like Shane Bieber and Ben Lively. Meanwhile, instead of Ortiz, Joey Cantillo was tapped for Thursday’s start.

As of now, the situation is under tight wraps. But if the gambling allegations are proven true, it could be the start of some of the most serious investigations.