Ex-Guardians catcher Naylor: Nothing unusual about Clase, Ortiz pitches

• David PurdumNov 5, 2026, 07:57 PM ET

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  • Joined ESPN in 2014
  • Journalist covering gambling industry since 2008

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 trust by Clase or Ortiz.

Government witness Edward Canario testified in the afternoon that he used information from co-defendant Luis Arismendy Paca Méndez to place bets on Clase pitches in May and June 2023. Canario said Paca Méndez told him not to tell anyone that he was getting information about Clase pitches.

Communicating through an interpreter, Canario said he paid Paca Méndez half of the proceeds from the winning bets but took on all the losses.

Canario said Paca Méndez was living with Clase in Cleveland at the time and that he once FaceTimed with them. Earlier in the day, Joel Trella, director of DraftKings' special investigations unit, said the sportsbook found 160 geolocation pings from DraftKings accounts used in Clase's house. A government attorney told the court that 14 people were geolocated at Clase's house.

Canario said he placed larger wagers when Paca Méndez told him to bet on Clase's first pitch of the ninth inning in select games. Who the batter was didn't matter, only that they were first up in the ninth inning against Clase, Canario told the court.

According to betting records shown by the government, Canario bet upwards of $600 per wager on Clase pitches to be slower than 94.5 mph or to result in a ball or hit batsman. He said he wagered more on some bets, "because I had inside information on these pitches."

Canario said he was charged with betting using inside information and signed a cooperation agreement with the government that would give him leniency in exchange for "telling the facts."

Under cross-examination, Canario told defense attorneys that Paca Méndez never said he had inside information but would say these were "for-sure bets."

Paca Méndez is not participating in the current trial after being extradited from the Dominican Republic to the United States on Oct. 19.

Clase and Ortiz were indicted in November 2025 and are standing trial for charges of conspiracy to commit wire and honest services fraud, sports bribery and money laundering.

The trial is expected to last until Dec. 3, according to Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto.

ESPN researcher John Mastroberardino contributed to this report.