Everyone in baseball knows that the Dodgers are the masters of manipulation when it comes to the injured list. They frequently place pitchers on the IL who are not injured as a means of getting them rest. Moreover, it allows the club to get a fresh arm on the active roster.
The organization will never admit to it, but it is apparent. It fits the organization as well as any other considering the amount of injury-prone players the Dodgers carry in addition to their fantastic depth.
Now Jon Heyman says changes are coming for the 2020 season.
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
According to league sources, the 10-day injured list will once again become the 15-day injured list as it used to be earlier in the decade. With a new rule change, the Dodgers may have to shift their strategy.
This has a direct impact on Los Angeles as MLB is instituting this change to mitigate teams from strategically manipulating the injured list and its purpose. In an effort to be able to retain as many players possible to maximize their depth, the front office manipulates the IL better than just about any team in the league.
Nevertheless, the Dodgers will most likely continue to deploy their strategy — one that works extremely well — regardless of the new rule implementations. While an extra five-day loss of a player on the injured list has more serious implications, it is still just five days or one start for a starting pitcher. This is how the Dodgers operate and there are no indications that they will stop now.
