Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Luis Ortiz has been placed on paid leave, the team announced Thursday morning. He was scheduled to start the Guardians’ game Thursday night against the Cubs, but instead it’ll be Joey Cantillo taking the ball for Cleveland.
The Guardians released the following statement on the matter:
The Guardians have been notified by Major League Baseball that Luis Ortiz has been placed on leave per an agreement with the Players Association due to an ongoing league investigation.
The Guardians are not permitted to comment further at this time, and will respect the league’s confidential investigative process.
Ortiz, 26, is 4-9 with a 4.36 ERA (95 ERA+), 1.38 WHIP and 96 strikeouts against 42 walks in 88 ⅔ innings this season.
The Guardians enter Thursday 40-44, which is 14 games out in the AL Central, though they are only four games back of the third AL wild-card spot.