MLB suspends former Guardians pitcher for a year because of gambling

MLB’s Department of Investigations discovered that Kelly, while playing for Houston’s Triple-A Sugar Land affiliate in 2021, placed 10 bets involving nine MLB games.

According to MLB, Kelly bet on the outcomes, over/under bets on the number of runs scored, and on an individual pitcher’s strikeout total. Three of the nine games on which Kelly placed bets involved the Astros, Houston’s big league club.

Here’s a breakdown of Kelly’s bets:

• Kelly’s account bet $99.22 on MLB games (an average of $9.92 per bet). Overall, Kelly won five of the MLB game bets and had a net win of $28.30 on the bets.
• Kelly did not appear in any of the games on which he bet, and he did not make any bets involving his assigned team. There is no evidence to suggest — and Kelly denies — that any outcomes in the baseball games on which he placed bets were compromised, influenced, or manipulated in any way.

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Kelly was one of two big league players and three minor league players suspended for gambling based on information MLB received from a legal gambling source in March of 2024. San Diego Padres infielder Tucipata Marcano was declared permanently ineligible because of bets he made while playing for the Pirates.

Minor Leaguers Jay Groome of the Padres, Jose Rodríguez of the Phillies and Andrew Saalfrank of the Diamondbacks were each suspended for a year for gambling.

MLB in a statement said none of the players are appealing their suspensions.

“The strict enforcement of Major League Baseball’s rules and policies governing gambling conduct is a critical component of upholding our most important priority: protecting the integrity of our games for the fans,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said. “The longstanding prohibition against betting on Major League Baseball games by those in the sport has been a bedrock principle for over a century. We have been clear that the privilege of playing in baseball comes with a responsibility to refrain from engaging in certain types of behavior that are legal for other people.

“Since the Supreme Court decision opened the door to legalized sports betting, we have worked with licensed sports betting operators and other third parties to put ourselves in a better position from an integrity perspective through the transparency that a regulated sports betting system can provide. MLB will continue to invest heavily in integrity monitoring, educational programming and awareness initiatives with the goal of ensuring strict adherence to this fundamental rule of our game.”