MLB star Tucupita Marcano is BANNED for life after betting on baseball as the sport is struck by another gambling scandal

Major League Baseball permanently banned San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano on Tuesday for betting on baseball.

The league also suspended four other players for a year after discovering the players had placed unrelated bets at a legal sportsbook.

Marcano, 24, was found to have placed 387 baseball bets, including 231 MLB-related bets, totaling more than $150,000 between October 16, 2022 and November 1, 2023.

The league says 25 of those bets included bets on Pittsburgh Pirates games while he was on the team’s Major League roster.

However, he did not appear in any of those games as he was on the injured list following a season-ending knee injury. He received medical treatment at PNC Park during that time.

Marcano gambled almost exclusively on game outcomes and lost all of his parlay bets involving the Pirates, winning just 4.3 percent of all his MLB-related bets.

He hasn’t played since tearing his right ACL on July 24. He was claimed off waivers by the Padres on November 2 and placed on the 10-day injured list on March 19.

U.S. sports leagues have increased scrutiny of gambling since the U.S. Supreme Court in May 2018 struck down a federal law that banned betting on football, basketball, baseball and other sports in most states.

Sportsbooks have opened in stadiums across the country, in major American professional sports.

Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, was fired by the Los Angeles Dodgers after the season opener on March 21 when a federal gambling investigation became public.

Mizuhara agreed to plead guilty to bank and tax fraud in a sports betting case in which prosecutors allege he stole nearly $17 million from the two-time AL MVP to pay off debts.

Marcano appears to be the first active Major Leaguer banned under the sport’s gambling provisions since New York Giants outfielder Jimmy O’Connell in 1924.

Active baseball leader Pete Rose agreed to a lifetime ban in 1989 after an investigation found he had bet on Cincinnati Reds games while managing the team.

Another big leaguer, Oakland Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly, was banned from playing for a year on Tuesday for betting on baseball while playing in the minor leagues.

In addition, minor leaguers Jay Groome of San Diego, Jose Rodríguez of Philadelphia and Andrew Saalfrank of Arizona were banned for one year for betting on Major League games.

The league said it was tipped off about the gambling activities by a legal sports betting operator.

None of the punished players played in games they were betting on, and all players denied to MLB that they had inside information relevant to their bets or the games they were betting on — testimony that MLB says matches data received from the sportsbook.

“The strict enforcement of Major League Baseball’s rules and policies regarding gambling conduct is a critical part of upholding our most important priority: protecting the integrity of our games for fans,” Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. declaration.

“The long-standing ban on gambling on Major League Baseball games by athletes has been a fundamental principle for more than a century. We have made it clear that the privilege of playing baseball comes with the responsibility to refrain from certain types of behavior that are legal for other people.”

More to follow.