Account
MLB Reportedly Changing Disabled List into 'Injured List'
February 7, 2019
Major League Baseball is reportedly changing the name of the disabled list 53 years after it was first adopted.
Per ESPN.com's Jeff Passan, MLB will use the term "injured list" as the designation for players who are forced to miss time due to physical ailments.
Passan noted MLB is instituting the change "out of concern that the term 'disabled' for injured players falsely conflates disabilities with injuries and an inability to participate in sports."
MLB first began using the disabled list in 1966 with the 15-day designation. The DL has undergone changes over the years.
The most recent alteration occurred in December 2016 when the league and MLB Players Association agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement. The 15-day DL was reduced to 10 days and a seven-day option was added for players in the concussion protocol.
There is also a 60-day designation for players with severe injuries that require longer periods of rehabilitation.
Per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com), MLB has proposed going back to the 15-day policy in an attempt to reduce the way teams use relief pitchers.
"Advanced analytics have shown team executives that starting pitchers are less successful the third time through the batting order," the AP wrote. "Increased DL and minor league option use has led to a strategy of teams rotating their middle relievers with their minor league affiliates in order to have more available pitchers each day."
MLB would begin using the new injury list when the 2019 season begins on March 28.