Ex-Guardian Naylor: Clase, Ortiz pitches not unusual - ESPN

NEW YORK — Former Cleveland Guardians catcher Bo Naylor said Thursday during the second day of witness testimony in a federal gambling trial that he didn't think there was anything unusual about the pitches Emmanuel Clase or Luis Ortiz are accused of rigging to benefit bettors.

Naylor, a defense witness, was shown video replays of some of the pitches the government alleges were predetermined by Clase or Ortiz as part of the scheme. Naylor was behind the plate for many of them and said they looked like common sliders outside the strike zone. He said the scouting reports on the hitters Ortiz faced during the two pitches in question indicated that sliders low and away would be a «weapon.»

Naylor played five seasons for the Guardians until he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in August. He was behind the plate for 14 of Ortiz's 16 starts in 2025, including the June 27 game against the St. Louis Cardinals — one of two games in which Ortiz allegedly rigged a pitch. The government alleges Ortiz intentionally threw a ball to the Cardinals' Pedro Pages with the first pitch in the bottom of the third inning.

«Slider low and away,» Naylor told Paul Flannery, one of Ortiz's attorneys.

Naylor also was the catcher for seven of the 18 pitches Clase, a three-time All-Star and two-time American League Reliever of the Year, is accused of rigging in 17 games from May 19, 2023, to May 28, 2025. He told the court he didn't find any of them to be remarkable or out of the ordinary.

Naylor said he didn't know sportsbooks offered bets on the result or speed of individual pitches until the case became public. He agreed that sharing information with anyone outside of the team would be a «betrayal» but added that he didn't suspect any breaches of