MLB Bans Padres’ Tucupita Marcano For Life For Gambling On Games

MLB has issued San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano a lifetime ban for gambling on baseball after the league received information that he wagered on games involving the Pittsburgh Pirates when he was with the team last season.

Tucupita Marcano placed 387 baseball bets, including 231 MLB-related wagers, between 2022 and 2023

Marcano, 24, violated MLB Rule 21, which states that a player who bets on games involving his own team is subject to a lifetime ban.

The league’s investigation concluded that the infielder placed 387 baseball bets, including 231 MLB-related wagers, between Oct. 16, 2022, and Nov. 1, 2023, totaling over $150,000. His average wager was $378.

MLB said 25 of those bets included wagers on Pirates games while he was on the team’s roster. Though, he did not appear in any of those games because he was on the injured list following a season-ending knee injury.

Marcano tore an ACL last year and was placed on the injured list when he placed the bets. The wagers were reportedly flagged by a sportsbook and reported to the league, according to ESPN.

Here is MLB’s account of the baseball betting by Tucupita Marcano that caused him to be banned from baseball “permanently.”

231 bets on baseball
Baseball bets totaling $87,319
25 bets on the Pirates while he was a Pirates player pic.twitter.com/WTEAslhqel

— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) June 4, 2024

Marcano’s wagers were almost all on the outcomes of games. He lost all of his parlay bets involving the Pirates, winning just 4.3% of all of his MLB-related bets, per a league source.

“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,” commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement.

“The longstanding prohibition against betting on Major League Baseball games by those in the sport has been a bedrock principle for over a century. We have been clear that the privilege of playing in baseball comes with a responsibility to refrain from engaging in certain types of behavior that are legal for other people.”

Marcano is the first active MLB player banned for gambling since New York Giants outfielder Jimmy O’Connell in 1924

Tucupita Marcano is the first active major leaguer banned under the sport’s gambling provision since New York Giants outfielder Jimmy O’Connell in 1924.

Pete Rose, MLB’s active career hits leader, agreed to a lifetime ban in 1989 after an investigation revealed that he had bet on Cincinnati Reds games while managing the team.

Four other minor league players are also facing discipline for betting, per the Wall Street Journal. A minor league player would still face a one-year suspension for betting on major league games, according to Rule 21.

Additionally, MLB continues to investigate Ohtani’s former teammate with the Los Angeles Angels, David Fletcher, for betting on sports with the same illegal bookmaker who accepted wagers from Ippei Mizuhara, the ex-interpreter of Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Shoei Ohtani.

Marcano is the first major player banned and/or barred from the league’s Hall of Fame for betting on baseball since Rose. In 2015, Miami Marlins right-hander Jarred Cosart was fined for placing bets not on baseball but with an illegal bookmaker.

Marcano rejoined the Padres during the offseason as a waiver claim after they had sent him to Pittsburgh at the 2021 trade deadline in a deal for infielder Adam Frazier.

In 149 career games, Marcano hit .217/.269/.320 with five home runs and seven stolen bases in 447 plate appearances.