MLB Bans Tucupita Marcano For Life For Betting on Baseball
Only a couple of months after the NBA banned Jontay Porter for life, Major League Baseball has followed suit after issuing a lifetime suspension to San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano for betting on the sport.
Marcano was one of five players suspended on Tuesday. The MLB Department of Investigations announced that Marcano, Oakland Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly, and minor-leaguers Jay Groome, Jose Rodriguez, and Andrew Saalfrank were all found to have violated the league's sports betting policy.
Kelly, Groome, Rodriguez, and Saalfrank are all suspended for one year, while Marcano is banned for life.
“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,” said MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.
Marcano's sports betting violations
Marcano was found to have placed 387 wagers on the sport, including more than two dozen on the team that rostered him at the time.
He placed those bets while a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates in October 2022, and then Marcano continued to do so from July 2023 to November 2023 through one of the best sports betting sites.
His bets on MLB games totaled more than $87,000 or approximately $390 per wager. Of the roughly 200 MLB wagers, it was found that 25 occurred while Marcano was on the Pirates' big-league roster. However, Marcano was on the injured list at the time, so the league found he didn't manipulate any of the games he bet on.
Marcano was found to have won only 4.3% of his MLB wagers, which included moneyline or run-line bets on the Pirates, as well as various parlays.
The other suspensions
None of Kelly, Groome, Rodriguez, or Saalfrank were found to have bet on games involving their assigned time or any events they could have directly influenced themselves.
Rodriguez wagered the most of the four, betting nearly $750 on parlays, while Kelly wagered less than $100 on only five games. Groome and Saalfrank bet roughly $450 each. The four will be suspended for one year.
The best sports betting apps involved notified MLB that these wagers occurred.
Recent MLB scandals
MLB went through a massive betting scandal during the beginning of the season involving Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara. Coincidently, he pleaded guilty on Tuesday to bank and tax fraud charges during a change-of-plea hearing. The maximum sentence he can face is 33 years.
MLB is also reportedly investigating Atlanta Braves and former Los Angeles Angels infielder David Fletcher for sports betting violations.