San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano hit with lifetime ban for betting on baseball

Major League Baseball player Tucupita Marcano has been permanently banned from the organization after an inquiry found that he had been betting on the sport.

The MLB announced the ban on Tuesday, according to ESPN.

Marcano, 24, who currently plays for the San Diego Padres, is the first active player to be banned for gambling since New York Giants outfielder Jimmy O'Connell was barred for betting in 1924.

"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. 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."

The league says Marcano placed 387 baseball bets, including 231 relating to Major League Baseball, between October 16, 2022 and November 1, 2023. In total, he bet more than $150,000.

MLB said that of those bets, 25 were wagers on Pittsburgh Pirates games he made while he was a player on the team. He did not play in any of the games he bet on because he was injured at the time.

Marcano lost on nearly all of his MLB bets, winning only 4.3 percent of the time.

Under MLB's Rule 21, if a player, umpire, league official or team employee bets on a game that they are not a part of, they will receive a one-year suspension. If they bet on a game they are involved in, they'll receive a lifetime ban. Rule 21 is named after the edict in 1921 by then commisisoner Kennesaw Landis who banned members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox from the sport after they threw the World Series.

Marcano was signed by the Padres in 2016 as an amateur free agent from Venezuela. In 2021, he was traded to the Pirates along with Jack Suqinski and Adam Frazier. He returned to the Padres last November on waivers.

Last summer, he tore his ACL and has not played in a game since.

In addition to Marcano's ban, Oakland Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly was also given a year suspension on Tuesday for betting on major league baseball while he was playing in the minors.

Jay Groome of San Diego, Jose Rodriguez of Philadelphia, and Andrew Saalfrank of Arizona — all minor leaguers — were also banned for a year for betting on major league games, according to MLB.

The league said it learned of Marcano's gambling through a tip by a sports betting operator.