Former Red Sox player banned for one year for betting on baseball

Red Sox promising left-handed pitcher and 2016 first-round pick Jay Groome photographed as a member of the Portland (ME) Sea Dogs AA affiliate team in 2022. (Photo by 365DigitalPhotography.com)

Jay Groome, a former Red Sox pitcher prospect and the club’s first-round pick in 2016, has been suspended for one year for betting on baseball, MLB announced Tuesday afternoon.

Groome, a right-hander who now plays in the minor leagues for the San Diego Padres, was one of five players disciplined following an MLB investigation, most notably Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano, who was banned for life. Groome was one of four players banned for one year. The others were right-hander Michael Kelly of the Oakland Athletics, infielder Jose Rodriguez of the Philadelphia Phillies and left-hander Andrew Saalfrank of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

According to MLB, Groome placed 32 MLB-related bets between July 22, 2020, and July 24, 2021. Of those, 24 bets involved the major league club Red Sox, and all 24 bets were on the final outcome of the game. Groome, who was playing for the Red Sox’s High-A affiliate in Greenville at the time, wagered a total of $453.74 on 30 MLB game bets (an average of about $15.12 per bet) and had a net loss of $433.54. Groome’s MLB bets included parlay bets, sometimes with multiple MLB-related legs and sometimes both MLB and non-MLB legs, and Groome only received payouts on two of his MLB bets.

Groome did not attend any of the games he bet on, nor did he place any bets on the team he was playing for at the time. According to MLB, there is no evidence that the outcome of any game he bet on was manipulated or rigged in any way, which Groome also denies.

Groome was originally selected by the Red Sox with the No. 12 overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft, but his career with the Red Sox was marked by frequent injury setbacks. He missed the entire 2018 season due to Tommy John surgery, only appeared in three games in 2019, and then missed 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He finally got back on track in 2021, reaching Triple-A Worcester in 2022 before being traded to the San Diego Padres before the 2022 trade deadline in exchange for first baseman Eric Hosmer and prospects Max Ferguson and Corey Rosier.

Since joining the Padres, Groome has made 43 starts for the club’s Triple-A affiliate, posting a 6.97 ERA in 191 innings. He has made just three starts this season, pitching five total innings, and will now sit out next year.