The MLB injured list: Everybody’s doing it

Less than a third of the way through the 2021 MLB season, the injured list has become baseball’s A list.

As of May 28, more than 240 players were being carried on the injured list, and that’s just through two months worth of activity. Only one of the 30 big league teams – the Boston Red Sox – had fewer than four players sidelined by injuries. A full one-third of teams had double digit bodies on the injured list.

The Injured List is getting crowded around MLB

That parade was led by the New York Mets, who somehow managed to cling to a lead in the NL East despite 17 injured list players.

Two numbers drive home the depth of the problem injuries have become already in 2021. The raw number of injured list players is up about 25 percent from the same calendar date during the most recent complete season, 2019. And even more apoplectic to team owners, across the entire spectrum of MLB about one payroll dollar of every five is being paid to a player who was, as of May 28, on the injured list.

What’s going on? The answers are probably numerous. Most everybody who claimed to know something about baseball predicted that the 2021 season, following the Covid-shortened 2020 MLB season and the cancellation of all minor league activity, would be an injury-plagued one.

That’s almost certainly a factor.

But it’s almost certainly also not the only factor. That element doesn’t explain Marcell Ozuna’s dislocated fingers, Cody Bellinger’s leg fracture, Corey Seager’s broken hand, or Paul DeJong’s rib fracture.

The raw numbers

The raw numbers lend credence to the conclusion that at least some portion of the increase in injuries is an after-effect of the Covid layoff.

Across the sport, 241 players were on the injured list as of May 28. On the comparable date two seasons ago, 192 players were sidelined. That’s a difference of 49 injured list players, or 25.5 percent.

In late May of 2019, only four MLB teams —  the Yankees, Nationals, Pirates, and Padres – had as many as 10 players on the injured list. Pittsburgh led the way with 13.

As of this recent May 28, a full 10 teams – the Mets, Cubs, Pirates, Dodgers, Giants, Padres, Blue Jays, Mariners, Rangers, and Astros – rostered double-digit players on the injured list. The Mets’ extraordinary 17 injured players included regulars Pete Alonso, Michael Conforto, Jeff McNeil, J.D. Davis and Brandon Nimmo, plus normal rotation starters Noah Syndergaard, Taijuan Walker, and Carlos Carrasco, plus potential closer Dellin Betances.

Even the Red Sox, numerically MLB’s least injury-stricken team, had reason to bemoan their fate. Boston carried only two injured list players, but one of them was ace left-handed pitcher Chris Sale. Recovering from Tommy John surgery, Sale has not pitched since the 2019 post-season.

The only other teams with fewer than a half dozen players on the injured list were the Nationals, Rockies, Orioles, White Sox, Indians, Tigers, Royals, and Athletics.

Big money

It’s not merely that more MLB players are going on the injured list, more highly paid stars are being stricken.

Nearly one-third of injured list players were drawing salaries in excess of $5 million when they went down. More than two dozen $10 million players were sidelined, eight of them in the $20 million class. Three of the MLB’s 10 best-paid stars – Mike Trout, Max Scherzer, and Justin Verlander – were out.

That’s causing some teams to spend remarkable amounts of money on damaged, unusable assets. The Houston Astros – with Verlander ($33 million), Michael Brantley ($16 million), Jake Odorizzi ($9 million), and Lance McCullers ($6.5 million) among 11 sidelined players – are writing checks amounting to 40 percent of their payroll to players who are not presently in uniform.

So are the Baltimore Orioles, although in the case of the Orioles that’s because their one high-payroll name –Chris Davis ($21 million) — is the sidelined player. But they’re not unique: the Phillies, Mets, and Angels are all sending more than one-third of their payroll to players on the injury list.

The Mariners, Yankees, Blue Jays, Pirates, and Rangers are all at or above 25 percent.

Across the sport, the average amount of team payroll now going to players who are on the injured list is 22.2 percent.

In terms of raw dollars, the Astros lead. Houston management has $75 million worth of talent on the injury list. The Phillies, Dodgers, Angels, and Mets are all above $60 million. That’s more than three teams – the Indians, Pirates, and Orioles – are paying their entire talent base.