After being investigated on gambling probes, both Clase and Ortiz each were placed on leave in July and haven’t seen the field since.

Ortiz was placed on leave on July 3, and then on July 28, Clase was placed on non-disciplinary paid leave.

This all stemmed from a pair of pitches from Ortiz during a June 27 game against the St. Louis Cardinals, and ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that those pitches were flagged by a betting-integrity firm after noticing unusual gambling activity.

In regards to Clase and how he got involved in this situation, no one on the outside truly knows. However, Hector Gomez, a well known baseball reporter from the Dominican Republic reported that Clase “will never pitch in MLB again,” claiming that the evidence that the league has against him is irrefutable.

It also comes on the heels of the report that both Clase and Ortiz were officially rejected and banned from playing in the Dominican Professional Baseball League this winter.

Clase was one of baseball’s most dominant closers for the better part of four seasons, with a career ERA of 1.88 and posting three consecutive 40 save seasons, two of those seasons ended up leading all of baseball.

In 2024, he was selected to the All Star Game for the third consecutive season, converting on a career-high 47 saves, and was also voted third in Cy Young voting. It was such a dominant performance with an insane 0.61 ERA that was the best season from a closer since Zack Britton did it with a 0.54 ERA in 2016.

Prior to getting placed on leave, he wasn’t having a typical Clase season, but it was still solid. He converted 24 saves with a 3.23 ERA.

This past season was Ortiz’s first with the Guardians, after spending the first three with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

He was always a serviceable pitcher, throwing for a career 4.05 ERA and teetered on the average scale with a 1.33 career WHIP.

This story is still ongoing and developing, but if all ends up to be true, Clase and Ortiz’s professional careers just may be over.