MLB: Disabled List Usage Is Up; Intentional Walks Are Down

Nearly one month into the season, MLB has seen an increase in the use of the Disabled List and a slight decrease in intentional walks.

If it seems like more players than ever on your favorite team (or your fantasy team) have been placed on the Disabled List this year, that’s only because it’s true. The use of the DL is up from last year and the likely culprit is the new 10-day Disabled List. In the offseason, MLB changed the 15-day DL to a 10-day DL and the early returns show that teams are using it more often.

According to Jerry Crasnick at ESPN, there has been a roughly 12 percent increase in the number of players on the DL through the first 25 days of this season compared to the same span over the average of the previous four years. So far this year, 165 players have been placed on the 10-day DL. Over the previous four years, from 2013 to 2016, an average of 147 players hit the injury list in the first 25 days of the season.

In the past, when a player was injured and his team didn’t know how long he’d be out, the team often held off a few days before deciding whether or not to use the 15-day DL. Sometimes a few days off would turn into a week before a team would finally decide to DL the player. While they held off on making the decision, they had to play a man down. In an era in which teams are carrying 12 or 13 pitchers, the benches are sparse, which made it that much more difficult when a player was injured but not on the DL.

This year, teams have been quicker to put a player on the 10-day DL and managers are happy to have the new option. Miami Marlins manager Don Mattingly acknowledge as much, saying (per ESPN.com),

"“You’re weighing, ‘Do I go without this guy for five days?’ Then it turns into a few more and the next thing you know you’re nine days in, and you’ve been playing short for a long time. Now you’re quicker to put a guy on [the DL]. To me, it’s better.”"

Along with the new 10-day DL, Major League Baseball changed the way intentional walks are executed. In the past, pitchers had to actually throw four balls if they wanted to intentionally walk a batter. It was generally a non-event, but on rare occasions something interesting happened, like a wild pitch, a passed ball, or a player reaching out and doing the “Kelly Leak.”

Now, rather than have the pitcher throw four pitches out of the strike zone, managers can simply call for an intentional walk and the batter goes to first. This is supposed to speed up the game but it’s more of a symbolic attempt than a real attempt at making games shorter because it didn’t take much time to throw four pitches. With it being easier to intentionally walk a batter these days, you might wonder if the use of the intentional walk has gone up. It turns out that it hasn’t.

Through April of 2016, there were 130 intentional walks in 26,756 plate appearances, meaning 0.49 percent of plate appearances resulted in an intentional walk. This year, there have been 108 intentional walks in 23,823 plate appearances, or 0.45 percent of plate appearances. The use of the intentional walk is slightly down over last year, despite the new rule. It is also down compared to 2015 (0.61 percent) and 2014 (0.50 percent).

I have to admit, I’m surprised that intentional walks are slightly down compared to last year. I thought managers would use it more often because it’s so easy to just call for it now, rather than throw the four pitches. It’s good to see that the rule change hasn’t increased the intentional walk, which generally is not a good strategy.

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The increased usage of the DL isn’t as surprising. It may seem counterintuitive, but more frequent use of the 10-day DL this year could be beneficial in the long run. In the past, a player may have returned to the lineup too soon because a team was hesitant to place him on the DL and have him miss 15 days. So, for example, a player might have missed a week and been put back in the lineup before he’s ready, which could lead to a more serious injury.

Now it appears teams are quicker to put players on the 10-day DL and let the healing start rather than hold off a few days or more. Switching from a 15-day DL to a 10-day DL was a good move by MLB. Changing the intentional walk rule hasn’t made much difference.