A seven-year career in Major League Baseball has come to an end, making him the latest alleged victim of the growing illegal gambling scandal. These issues have rocked baseball since Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter made headlines for allegedly breaking betting rules. And now, an infielder who became a pitcher is quitting professional baseball. His former teammate’s legal problems and involvement in a separate investigation seem to have affected him.

David Fletcher, a 31-year-old veteran of the Angels, has announced his retirement, a proof of how far the gambling investigation is going within the organization. Major League Baseball started looking into Fletcher in May 2024 because of claims that he was involved in illegal gambling.

Reports say that Fletcher made sports bets with Mathew Bowyer, the same unlicensed bookmaker who was linked to Ippei Mizuhara, Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, who confessed to helping the Japanese superstar move millions of dollars in gambling-related wire transfers.

As investigators looked into patterns of illegal betting among Angels players, they found evidence against David Fletcher.

This investigation is important for more than just Fletcher. His close friend Colby Schultz, who used to play minor league baseball for the Kansas City Royals, reportedly used the same bookmaker to bet on baseball games, including Angels games that Fletcher played in.

Now, Talkin’ Baseball shared an update on X.

“Former Angels infielder David Fletcher is hanging ’em up. He had been in the Braves system attempting to pivot to a career as a pitcher.” Fletcher only played in five major league games after joining the Braves. He was sent down to Triple-A Gwinnett.

Fletcher told the team that he had been working on a knuckleball and wanted to pitch instead of accepting his smaller role. Fletcher made a great first impression as a professional pitcher on May 29, 2024. He struck out six batters in five innings and only let in two earned runs.

He started throwing the knuckleball at about 63 miles per hour most of the time.

Fletcher had a 6.42 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 101 innings pitched over 23 minor league games in two seasons. This shows how inconsistent his pitching was. He even asked former MLB knuckleballers and coaches for help because he knew that the pitch would put less strain on his arm and let him play into his 40s.

The Braves turned down Fletcher’s $8 million club option in favor of a $1.5 million buyout. But it wasn’t much of a surprise, given he hadn’t played for the big leagues since April 2024.

And now, his retirement takes him out of the spotlight as the investigation into gambling continues. It ends a career that started well with Ohtani, but ended suddenly because of legal and organizational issues stemming from alleged sports betting.

Angels stars Fletcher and Shohei Ohtani take opposite paths

While Fletcher’s career ends in the shadow of scandal and diminished relevance, his former teammate Shohei Ohtani stands on the brink of joining an incredibly exclusive club – one that includes LeBron James himself.

Ohtani is going for his fourth MVP award in just five seasons.

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LeBron James from the NBA, Wayne Gretzky from hockey, Bill Russell from basketball, and Barry Bonds from baseball are just a few of the athletes who have been there.

LeBron won four MVPs from 2009 to 2013, two in Cleveland and two in Miami. Ohtani has already won three in 2021, 2023, and 2024, with his only loss coming in 2022 when Aaron Judge beat him out. He is now one away from tying those all-time greats.

While both Juan Soto and Kyle Schwarber are also in the running with great seasons, Ohtani is the clear favorite going into the announcement on November 13.

The two-way sensation has been in charge for a long time. And now, his fourth potential MVP can put him among the best athletes in the world.

For Fletcher, retirement at 31 ends a chapter that once held a lot of promise. Meanwhile, Ohtani’s path to immortality continues.