Catcher Bo Naylor, a former teammate of Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, testified Thursday at their New York sports betting trial that he didn’t know gamblers could place bets on individual pitches until the criminal case arose.
uncertain
case → testify → pitches
Naylor, called as a defense witness out of turn because he is heading to his wedding, made the revelation under cross-examination by Assistant U.S. Attorney James Simmons, who asked if he knew such bets occurred at the time of 2025 baseball game recordings shown to a Brooklyn jury.
asserted
bets → call → jury
“I didn’t know that before,” he said.
asserted
he → know → that
“I didn’t know that until the situation.”
asserted
I → know → situation
“You didn’t know people bet tens of thousands of dollars on pitches?” the prosecutor asked him, though Naylor was stopped from answering when an objection by defense lawyers was sustained.
asserted
objection → know → lawyers
The testimony reflected how quickly sports-betting possibilities have blossomed in recent years.
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possibilities → reflect → years
Legal sports betting has spread to 39 states in a steady expansion since the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for it in 2018.
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Court → spread → 2018
Betting on whether a pitch will be a ball or strike is a form of prop betting, a popular type of wager often focused on individual players — like achieving a certain number of strikeouts in baseball, or points and rebounds in basketball or surpassing a particular passing yardage in football.
asserted
pitch → bet → football
Naylor, who was traded by Cleveland to the Milwaukee Brewers in August just weeks before his new team won the World Series, was shown dozens of clips of pitches thrown by Clase and Ortiz in 2025 when he was questioned first by defense lawyers for the pitchers.
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he → trade → pitchers
The lawyers elicited from Naylor that catchers notify pitchers what pitches they should throw and where they should aim them before each pitch.
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they → elicit → pitch
Naylor said catchers and pitchers develop a strategy during pregame meetings of how to best pitch to each opponent to get an out based on an analysis of the weak spots in the hitting habits of each batter.
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catchers → say → batter
He also acknowledged that pitchers, even the best ones, cannot be sure that each pitch will go where it is aimed.
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it → acknowledge → ?
Clase, a three-time All-Star and two-time American League Reliever of the Year, had “pretty good command” of his pitches, Naylor said.
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Naylor → have → pitches
Clase, 28, and Ortiz, 27, pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges after they were filed a year ago.
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they → plead → charges
Prosecutors said the players accepted several thousand dollars in payments so sports gamblers could place bets on individual pitches, enabling the gamblers to pocket at least $460,000.
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gamblers → say → 460,000
Prosecutors said Clase, who had completed the fourth season of a $20 million, five-year contract, began providing information about his pitches to bettors in 2023 and recruited Ortiz into the scheme in 2025.
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who → say → 2025
Ortiz earned $782,600 starting for the Guardians during the 2025 season.
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Ortiz → earn → season
Both are free on bail and are on nondisciplinary leave from the club without pay while facing prosecution.
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Both → face → prosecution
Naylor, who studied Spanish so he could communicate better with Spanish-speaking teammates, acknowledged when he was being questioned by the prosecutor that he was not close friends with Clase or Ortiz.
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he → study → Clase
Simmons also elicited from Naylor that he had frequently seen Clase on his cellular phone in the locker room.
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he → elicit → room
Prosecutors have alleged that Clase sometimes broke Major League Baseball rules by communicating with gamblers during games.
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Clase → allege → games
Naylor also acknowledged that pitchers ultimately have the final say as to what pitch gets thrown because pitchers can wave off the catcher’s call in favor of a different pitch.
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pitchers → acknowledge → pitch
At one point during his testimony, Naylor was asked by Clase’s defense attorney, Michael Ferrara, if he had heard that Clase was into cockfighting with people he knew from the Dominican Republic, where he grew up.
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he → ask → Republic
Naylor said he had based on “rumors I heard around the clubhouse.”
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I → say → clubhouse
Clase’s lawyers have told the jury that the pitcher had friends who shared his enthusiasm for cockfights, which are legal in the Dominican Republic, and for playing dominoes, rather than sports gambling.
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which → tell → gambling
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