Jay Groome, a former Red Sox pitching prospect and the club’s first-round pick in 2016, has received a one-year suspension for betting on baseball, MLB announced Tuesday afternoon.
Groome, now a minor leaguer in the San Diego Padres organization, was among five players disciplined following MLB’s investigation, which primarily centered around Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano, who received a lifetime ban. Groome was among four players to receive a one-year suspension, the others being Oakland Athletics right-hander Michael Kelly, Philadelphia Phillies minor league infielder Jose Rodriguez and Arizona Diamondbacks minor league left-hander Andrew Saalfrank.
According to MLB, Groome placed 32 MLB-related bets between July 22, 2020 and July 24, 2021. Of those, 24 bets involved the Red Sox big league club, and all 24 were on the game’s final outcome. Groome, who was at the time playing for the Red Sox High-A affiliate in Greenville, bet a total of $453.74 on 30 MLB game-related bets (an average of approximately $15.12 per bet) and had a net loss of $433.54. Groome’s MLB bets included parlays, sometimes including 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 appear in any of the games on which he bet and did not make any bets involving the team he played for at the time. MLB says there is no evidence to suggest that any outcome of a game he bet on was compromised or manipulated in any way, which Groome denies as well.
Originally selected by the Red Sox with the No. 12 overall pick of the 2016 MLB Draft, Groome’s Red Sox career was marked by frequent injury setbacks. He missed the entire 2018 season due to Tommy John surgery, appeared in only three games in 2019 and then missed 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He finally got back on track in 2021 and reached Triple-A Worcester in 2022 before being traded to the San Diego Padres ahead of 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 over 191 innings. He’s only made three starts and pitched a combined five innings this season and will now spend the next year away from the game.