Major League Baseball has banned San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano for life for betting on baseball, while also announcing four other players are receiving one-year suspensions for violating the league’s gambling policy.
Jared Diamond and Lindsey Adler of The Wall Street Journal first reported Monday that Marcando was facing a potential lifetime ban for betting on baseball as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. MLB made the news official on Tuesday morning.
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- Tucupita Marcano stats: .217/.269/.320, .589 OPS, 88 career hits, 5 home runs in 406 at-bats
Marcano, age 24, spent the majority of the 2023 MLB season with the Pirates. He played in 75 games, contributing just a .233/276/.356 slash line with a .653 OPS. After suffering an ACL tear in August, he was claimed off waivers by the Padres in November and started the 2024 season on the injured list.
On Tuesday, MLB announced that Marcano was receiving a lifetime ban following an investigation that was launched following information provided to league officials in March about players involved in gambling.
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“In March 2024, MLB learned from a legal sports betting operator that it had identified past baseball betting activity from accounts connected to multiple Major and Minor League players. MLB obtained data from that operator and other sportsbooks, including authentication data for bets. None of these players played in any game on which they placed a bet. Further, all of the players denied that they had any inside information relevant to the bets or that any of the baseball games they bet on were compromised or manipulated, and the betting data does not suggest that any outcomes in the baseball games on which they placed bets were compromised, influenced, or manipulated in any way. None of the players are appealing their discipline.”
MLB statement on the suspensions of Tucupita Marcano, Michael Kelly, Jay Groome, José Rodríguez and Andrew Saalfrank
Michael Kelly, a relief pitcher for the Oakland Athletics, is receiving a one-year ban for violating the league’s gambling policy. The 31-year-old relief pitcher last pitched for the Athletics on Saturday against the Atlanta Braves. He is the first active MLB player suspended for gambling this season.
- Michael Kelly stats (ESPN): 2.59 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 22 strikeouts in 31.1 innings pitched
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Marcano isn’t the only member of the Padres’ organization being suspended. Jay Groome, the 12th overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft by the Boston Red Sox, is receiving a one-year ban. The 25-year-old is currently a pitcher for the El Paso Chihuahuas, the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate.
- Jay Groome stats (2024): 3.60 ERA, 5-5 K-BB ratio in 5 innings pitched
Philadelphia Phillies infielder José Rodriguez, a 23-year-old playing for the Reading Fightin Phils (Double-A) is receiving a one-year ban from Major League Baseball. In 147 at-bats this season, Rodriguez was responsible for a .265/.329/.422 slash line with a .751 OPS, 4 home runs and 12 stolen bases.
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Andrew Saalfrank, a 26-year-old pitcher in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization, was also handed down a one-year ban for betting violations. The southpaw made his MLB debut last season and had appeared in 2 games earlier this year for Arizona, allowing 4 earned runs with 4 walks in 1 inning pitched.
None of the players are appealing their suspensions.
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