The gamble that led to Tucupita Marcano being banned for life from MLB on Tuesday was nowhere near worth it.
The Padres infielder, who was suspended last year for betting on Pirates games while in the major leagues, didn’t win any of the 25 bets he placed on Pittsburgh and barely won any of his 231 MLB-related bets, according to the league.
“As with Mr. Marcano’s baseball betting generally, nearly all of his Pirates bets were about which team (the Pirates or the opponent) would win the game or whether the game would score more or less than a certain number of runs,” MLB said in a statement. “In the end, Mr. Marcano lost all of his parlays involving the Pirates and won just 4.3 percent of his overall MLB-related bets.”
Marcano, 24, was found to have placed 387 baseball bets, including on international games, through legal sportsbooks between Oct. 16, 2022, and Oct. 23, 2022, and July 12, 2023, and Nov. 1, 2023.
The Venezuelan, named after his hometown, has bet more than $150,000 on baseball, including $87,319 on MLB-related wagers.
Marcano did not play in the Pirates game that was bet on because he suffered a season-ending torn ACL on July 24, 2023, but was a member of the major league team and received treatment at the team’s ballpark.
He originally signed with the Padres as an international free agent in 2016 at age 16.
The Padres dealt Marcano to the Pirates before the 2021 trade deadline, but acquired him on waivers from Pittsburgh last November after he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.
A center infielder and occasional substitute outfielder, Marcano appeared in 149 games and posted a career batting average of .217/.276/.356 with five home runs and 34 RBIs.
Oakland Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly, Diamondbacks pitcher Andrew Sahlfrank, Padres prospect Jay Groome and Phillies infielder Jose Rodriguez were each suspended for one year for betting on MLB games other than those of their then-teams.
