In what could have easily been the next season of “American Crime Story,” Lionsgate Television is diving into the gambling scandal that’s rocked Major League Baseball since March.

Lionsgate is developing a scripted series about how Shohei Ohtani, the Japanese superstar of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Angels, became the subject of massive fraud and theft at the hands of his longtime interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara. Just days ago, Mizuhara agreed to plead guilty to accusations he stole almost $17 million from Ohtani to pay off gambling debts.

Scott Delman (“Station Eleven”) will produce along with Albert Chen, a former senior editor with Sports Illustrated, MLB Network contributor, and the writer of “Billion Dollar Fantasy” about the battle between gambling apps DraftKings and FanDuel. No platform or creative talent is being announced at this stage. Executive Max Elins is overseeing the project for Lionsgate Television.

“With a strong track record of creating daring,...