At least one sharp gambler is betting against Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani as a betting scandal swirls around baseball’s biggest star.
Circa Sports has posted a plethora of over-under season props on Ohtani and the book has taken bets on the two-time American League MVP to go under his total home runs, RBIs, runs scored and stolen bases.
Major League Baseball has opened a formal investigation into illegal gambling and theft allegations involving Ohtani and his interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara.
“And I’m sure that’s 100 percent the angle, with the gambling investigation and potential punishment,” Circa sportsbook director Chris Bennett said. “So I moved the numbers off of those bets more than I otherwise would. But I’ve kept them up throughout and nobody else has piled on to that up to this point.”
Bennett put props up a few weeks ago on Ohtani’s home runs (36½), RBIs (101½), runs scored (100½), stolen bases (17½), hits (148½), doubles (27) and triples (4½).
The props come with the stipulation that he must play at least three games for action. Ohtani already played two games for the Dodgers in their opening series against the Padres in South Korea. Los Angeles will resume the regular season Thursday with its home opener against the St. Louis Cardinals.
“I made the stipulation that he must play in at least three games so if something goofy happens, like this, between the two games in Korea and the regular part of the regular season, that I kind of protected ourselves from under bets that would be easy winners perhaps,” Bennett said.
Circa plans to take the props off the board after the Dodgers-Cardinals game starts.
“I wasn’t going to be updating these things over the course of the season,” Bennett said. “So whatever happens with a ruling, potential suspension, a fine or whatever it is, it’s not really going to impact us.”
Mizuhara was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday after questions were raised surrounding at least $4.5 million in wire transfers sent from Ohtani’s bank account to an illegal bookmaking operation in Southern California.
A spokesman for Ohtani told ESPN on Tuesday the Japanese two-way star had transferred the funds to pay Mizuhara’s gambling debt. The spokesman changed the story Wednesday and said Ohtani “has been the victim of a massive theft.”
Bennett said he doesn’t expect Ohtani to be suspended based on the initial reports.
“He’s the most popular baseball player, maybe ever,” Bennett said. “Unless he did something really bad or so clearly against the rules that MLB has established, I don’t think they’re going to look to punish him in a way where he’s missing games.
“They want this guy on the field. He’s extremely important to the MLB product.”
Mizuhara told ESPN on Tuesday he never bet on baseball. He said his bets were on international soccer, the NBA, the NFL and college football. Betting on baseball — legally or not — is punishable with a one-year ban from the sport. The penalty for betting on other sports illegally is at the commissioner’s discretion.
Circa also posted a prop on the number range of Ohtani’s home runs. The book took a bet on the lowest range of zero-to-20, which is the 4-1 favorite, while 21-to-30 is the +440 second choice.
They love L.A.
The Dodgers still have the highest regular-season win total at 103 and are the heavy -490 favorites to win the National League West division. They also remain the +350 favorites at Circa to win the World Series.
“We haven’t seen any anti-Dodgers sentiment as a result of this investigation that’s going on,” Bennett said. “The betting public has clearly liked the Dodgers as the favorite.”
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at [email protected]. Follow @tdewey33 on X.
