Major League Baseball is making another change to the injured list for 2020, this time to try to cut down on roster manipulation.
According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, MLB will keep the 10-day IL in place for position players. However, pitchers will now be subject to a 15-day IL, with the league aiming to cut down on roster manipulation.
Sources: Another change coming for the IL (Injured List). position players will still have a 10-day IL, but pitchers will not. Instead they'll have a 15-day IL to try to prevent teams from manipulating their rosters (which, of course, still won’t be easy)
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 15, 2019
15 days was the standard IL length prior to the 2017 season, when it was changed to ten. IL usage has shot up since the rule change. A lot of that has been down to pitchers, as it becomes easy to avoid a starting pitcher for one turn through the rotation — and replace him on the roster — by simply subjecting him to a brief, sometimes retroactive IL spot. That has led to more reliever usage, which is something the league is also trying to cut down on.
MLB is already working on the reliever situation, with a rule forcing relievers to pitch to at least three batters unless the half-inning ends first. Increasing IL time for pitchers will force teams to think twice about when to put a pitcher on the shelf. All of these changes fundamentally have to do with increasing the pace of play, an issue that commissioner Rob Manfred has long sought to address. Whether any of it actually makes any meaningful difference remains to be seen.
