Ex-Guardians Catcher Bo Naylor Testifies He Didn't Know Gamblers Bet on Individual Pitches

Bo Naylor caught Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz in Cleveland. On Thursday, Nov. 5, he sat in a Brooklyn federal courtroom and said he had no idea people were betting on their individual pitches.

"I didn't know that before," Naylor testified. "I didn't know that until the situation."

A defense witness called out of turn

Naylor, now with the Milwaukee Brewers, was called by the defense out of the usual order because he is heading to his wedding. He was traded by Cleveland to Milwaukee in August, weeks before the Brewers won the World Series.

Defense lawyers questioned him first and showed him dozens of clips of pitches thrown by Clase and Ortiz in 2025. Through him, they established several points about how the job works.

Catchers tell pitchers what to throw and where to aim before every pitch. Catchers and pitchers build a plan in pregame meetings, based on the weak spots in each opposing hitter's habits. And even the best pitchers cannot be certain a pitch will land where it was aimed.

Naylor said Clase, a three-time All-Star and two-time American League Reliever of the Year, had "pretty good command" of his pitches.

The cross-examination

Assistant U.S. Attorney James Simmons took over on cross and asked whether Naylor knew such bets were being placed when the 2025 game recordings were made. That is when Naylor gave his answer.

Simmons followed up: "You didn't know people bet tens of thousands of dollars on pitches?" Defense lawyers objected, the objection was sustained, and Naylor never answered.

The jury heard the question but not a response. Naylor's earlier answer stands as his testimony on what he knew.

His answer is also a snapshot of how fast the market moved. Legal sports betting is now available in 39 states, a steady expansion since the Supreme Court cleared the way in 2018. Wagering on whether a single pitch is a ball or a strike is a form of prop betting, the same family of bets that covers a pitcher's strikeout total or a quarterback's passing yards.

What prosecutors allege

Clase, 28, and Ortiz, 27, pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges filed a year ago.

Prosecutors allege the two accepted several thousand dollars in payments so that gamblers could place bets on individual pitches. They say the gamblers took in at least $460,000.

According to prosecutors, Clase began providing information about his pitches to bettors in 2023 and recruited Ortiz in 2025. Clase had completed the fourth season of a five-year, $20 million contract. Ortiz earned $782,600 as a Guardians starter in 2025.

Those are the government's allegations. Nothing in Naylor's testimony proves or disproves them. He was not accused of anything, and he was not asked, at least not in the exchanges described from court, whether he saw either pitcher do anything unusual.

The defense angle

The defense questioning leaned on a simple point: a pitcher's location is not fully in his control, and the catcher is part of every pitch decision. Naylor confirmed both. He also described Clase as a pitcher with good command, which the defense lawyers elicited.

Prosecutors, for their part, used their cross to put the size of the bets in front of the jury. Their question referred to tens of thousands of dollars wagered on pitches.

Both pitchers are free on bail. Both are on nondisciplinary leave from Cleveland without pay while they face prosecution.

What comes next

The trial continues in Brooklyn federal court, and the jury has returned no verdict. The open question for jurors is the one the prosecution has to prove: whether Clase and Ortiz, as charged, took money in exchange for letting gamblers bet on specific pitches. Naylor's testimony touched on that only at the edges.