CLEVELAND — If it seems there are more players being placed on the disabled list than ever, that’s because it’s true.
As part of the new collective-bargaining agreement, the disabled list time frame has been lowered from 15 days to 10 days. The five fewer days on the minimum makes it vastly easier for teams to put a player on the DL. For a starting pitcher, it means two starts missed instead of three, and for a manager wondering if a position player might miss four or five games, there is less hesitation to play the day-to-day waiting game and have a shortened bench.