MLB Officially Bans Tucupita Marcano, Suspends Four Players for Betting on Baseball

Patrick Andres | Jun 4, 2024

May 22, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; A general view of the baseball on rosin at the mound prior to a game between the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers at Kauffman Stadium. / Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Major League Baseball has banned a player for life and suspended four players for a year for betting on baseball, the league announced Tuesday.

Tucupita Marcano, an infielder and outfielder for the San Diego Padres, was placed on baseball's permanently ineligible list after an investigation implicated him in making approximately $150,000 worth of wagers on baseball.

“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,” MLB 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.

Marcano is the seventh individual and second active player banned during Manfred's tenure, following New York Mets pitcher Jenrry Mejía in 2016 for performance-enhancing drug violations (Mejía was later reinstated).

The other four players who received yearlong suspensions were Padres minor league pitcher Jay Groome, Oakland Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly, Philadelphia Phillies minor league infielder José Rodríguez and Arizona Diamondbacks minor league pitcher Andrew Saalfrank.