Guardians catcher testifies pitches in fraud trial looked normal

Bo Naylor, a former catcher for the Cleveland Guardians, told a federal court on Thursday that he saw nothing unusual about the specific pitches accused of being rigged in a gambling scheme. The former player served as a defense witness on the second day of testimony in the trial of relievers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz. Naylor reviewed video replays of the pitches in question and described them as standard sliders thrown outside the strike zone.

Naylor played five seasons for Cleveland before being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in August. He caught 14 of Ortiz's 16 starts in 2025, including the June 27 game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Prosecutors allege Ortiz intentionally threw a ball to Pedro Pages in the bottom of the third inning of that game. Naylor stated that scouting reports for that matchup identified low, away sliders as a "weapon." When asked by defense attorney Paul Flannery to characterize the pitch, Naylor replied, "Slider low and away."

The former catcher also covered seven of the 18 pitches for which Clase faces allegations. Clase is a three-time All-Star and two-time American League Reliever of the Year. Naylor said none of the pitches he observed appeared remarkable or out of the ordinary. He added that he was unaware sportsbooks offered wagers on individual pitch results or speeds until the case became public. While he called sharing such information a "betrayal," he did not suspect either pitcher of breaking that trust.

In the afternoon, government witness Edward Canario testified that he placed bets on Clase pitches in May and June 2023 using information from co-defendant Luis Arismendy Paca Méndez. Canario said Paca Méndez instructed him to keep the source of the information secret. The witness stated that he paid Paca Méndez half of the winnings but covered all the losses. Canario noted that Paca Méndez lived with Clase in Cleveland at the time and that they participated in a video conference together.

Joel Trella, director of DraftKings' special investigations unit, earlier told the court that the sportsbook recorded 160 geolocation pings from DraftKings accounts in Clase's house. A government attorney said 14 people were geolocated at that address. Canario said he increased his wagers when Paca Méndez advised him to bet on Clase's first pitch of the ninth inning, regardless of the batter. Betting records showed Canario wagered upwards of $600 per bet on pitches to be slower than 94.5 mph or to result in a ball or hit batsman.

Canario, who is cooperating with the government, said he signed an agreement for leniency in exchange for "telling the facts." Under cross-examination, he stated that Paca Méndez described the picks as "for-sure bets" rather than explicitly claiming inside information. Paca Méndez was extradited from the Dominican Republic to the United States on Oct. 19 and is not participating in the current trial. Clase and Ortiz face charges of conspiracy to commit wire and honest services fraud, sports bribery, and money laundering.

Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto has scheduled the trial to continue until Dec. 3.