A second Cleveland pitcher has been placed on paid administrative leave in an ongoing sports betting investigation by Major League Baseball.

This time, it’s former All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase, a 27-year-old right-hander whose spring training clubhouse cubicle was adjacent to that of fellow pitcher Luis Ortiz, also now sidelined by a gambling investigation.

Neither the Guardians nor MLB would provide further comment, although both players have been ordered out of action through the end of August – making them ineligible for potential trades before the July 31 deadline.

Clase, whose 0.61 earned run average in 2024 earned him a third-place finish in the American League’s Cy Young Award voting, has led the league in saves three years in a row.

Although he wasn’t pitching as well this season, Clase is still coveted by rival clubs.

Under terms of their suspensions, Clase and Ortiz are barred from the Progressive Field clubhouse and any other facilities owned by the Guardians. Ortiz, whose ban was announced on July 3 and later extended through the end of next month, has been keeping in pitching shape at an independent training facility in town.

The connection between the relief pitchers is their shared interest in animals, especially chickens and horses on their farms in the Dominican Republic.