MLB Sports Betting Investigation: Tucupita Marcano Gets Lifetime Ban

Pete Rose has company. Tucupita Marcano of the San Diego Padres was served a lifetime ban from the MLB following a sports betting scandal. The league did a probe and discovered Marcano violated the MLB gambling policy. Marcano is accused of wagering on Pittsburgh Pirates games last season while he was on the team’s injured list. The story was initially broken by the Wall Street Journal.

MLB Lifetime Ban Details

The MLB betting scandal reveals that Marcano and four other players are facing punishment. Marcano’s punishment was enforced on Tuesday as the investigation continued. The MLB discovered Marcano placed 231 MLB-related wagers.

“We are aware of an active investigation by Major League Baseball regarding a matter that occurred when the player in question was a member of another organization and not affiliated with the Padres,” said the Padres in a statement. “We will not have any further comment until the investigative process has been completed.”

Marcano had been sidelined with a torn ACL since the 2023 season. The 24-year-old is alleged to have been placing bets on the Pirates while he was sidelined. There is no reporting that he had any direct influence on the outcome of games he wagered on. Marcano hadn’t played a single game for the Padres this season as he was still out recovering from his injury.

He was also apparently a terrible bettor.

Gambling Issues Persist In The Sports World

This is not the first sports betting scandal the MLB has suffered recently. Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers is embroiled in a betting scandal involving his translator. Ippei Mizuhara allegedly stole upwards of $16 million from Ohtani’s account to wager at an illegal sportsbook. The investigation surrounding the Ohtani scandal revealed more than $180 million in illegal bets were placed by the translator.

The NBA has also suffered a recent sports betting scandal of its own. NBA two-way forward Jontay Porter was given a lifetime ban for betting on his own player props. Porter was shown to have associates wager on his Unders and in games that he would eventually sit out after just a few minutes.

Porter was also found to have personally wagered $54,094 on his own, including against his own team, the Toronto Raptors.

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