Oakland A’s pitcher Michael Kelly was also suspended for a year for gambling.
San Diego Padres shortstop Tucupita Marcano has been permanently banned from MLB for betting more than $150,000 on baseball, according to the league.
Marcano, 24, faced the harshest penalty among several baseball players penalized by the league Tuesday. He played in at least 25 Pittsburgh Pirates games while playing for the team last year.
Oakland A’s pitcher Michael Kelly was also suspended for a year for playing baseball. He was a minor league player at the time and bet on MLB teams, which limited his penalty.
Marcano, a native of Venezuela, signed with the Padres during the offseason but has not played as he recovers from a knee injury suffered last July.
He allegedly wagered $87,319 – out of $150,000 – on 387 bets on MLB, the league said. However, he did not participate in any matches as he was recovering from his injury.
“Consistent with Marcano’s overall baseball betting activity, almost all of Marcano’s Pirates bets were on which club (the Pirates or their opponent) would win the game or whether there would be more or less a certain number of runs scored in the game,’” MLB said. “Ultimately, Marcano lost all of his bets involving the Pirates and won only 4.3% of all of his MLB-related bets.”
MLB continued: “There is no evidence to suggest – and Marcano denies – that the results of the baseball games on which he bet were compromised, influenced or manipulated in any way.”
Kelly, 31, played this season and was a significant contributor out of the bullpen. He made 28 appearances and had a 2.59 ERA. It launched on May 24. Kelly also pitched for the Cleveland Guardians in 2023 and the Philadelphia Phillies in 2022.
He only bet $99.22 on MLB games in October 2021 while he was a minor leaguer in the Houston Astros organization, and thus did not appear in any games he bet on , MLB said.
On Tuesday, three minor league players were also suspended for one year for playing baseball.
Padres minor league pitcher Jay Groome, Phillies minor league infielder José Rodríguez and Diamondbacks minor league pitcher Andrew Saalfrank were all suspended. Groome bet just over $453 on games in July 2021, Rodriguez bet $724 on games in September 2021 and June and July 2022, and Saalfrank bet $445 on games in fall 2021 and March 2022 , according to MLB.
Any player who bets on baseball is subject to a one-year suspension under league Rule 21, while anyone who bets on a baseball game they are connected to is permanently ineligible.
News Source : abcnews.go.com
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