Report: Former Angels player David Fletcher bet on sports with same bookie as Ippei Mizuhara

A former Los Angeles Angels player allegedly bet on sports using the same bookmaker who took bets from Ippei Mizuhara, according to ESPN’s Tisha Thompson. Mizuhara is Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter who was fired in March amid wire fraud allegations.

David Fletcher, who played for the Angels from 2018-23, allegedly bet on multiple sports with the bookmaking operation run by Mathew Bowyer, Thompson reported. He did not best on baseball, according to the report. One of Fletcher’s close friends, former Kansas City Royals prospect Colby Schultz, is also accused of betting sports – including games in which Fletcher played. Schultz is also “Bookmaker 3” in the ongoing case against Mizuhara while Bowyer is “Bookmaker 1,” ESPN reported.

Fletcher is said to be a close friend of Ohtani, who now plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers. MLB rules state players cannot bet on sports other than baseball, and league rules state those who bet on baseball are subject to a lifetime ban.

Mizuhara was Ohtani’s longtime interpreter, and news broke while the Dodgers were in South Korea to open the season about his gambling debts. It later came out he stole upward of $17 million from Ohtani and he was let go as a result. Ohtani maintained he did not bet on baseball or any sport, and authorities said there is no evidence he knew about or was involved in Mizuhara’s actions.

That was consistent with Ohtani’s statement after the news came out.

“I never bet on baseball or any other sports or never have asked somebody to do that on my behalf,” Ohtani said in March, via The Athletic. “And I have never went through a bookmaker to bet on sports. Up until a couple of days ago, I didn’t know that this was happening. Just to kind of go over the result, in conclusion, Ippei has been stealing money from my account and has told lies.

“Last weekend in Korea, media had reached out to a representative in my camp inquiring about my potential involvement in sports betting. So, Ippei never revealed to me that there was this media inquiry, and to the representatives in my camp he told, Ippei told, to the media and to my representatives that I, on behalf of a friend, paid off debt. Upon further questioning, it was revealed that it was actually, in fact, Ippei who was in debt.”