What is the Injured List? Definition and Examples
The injured list (IL) is MLB's roster mechanism for sidelining medically restricted players, freeing the 26-man spot for replacements while preserving the player's service time and full salary.
What is the injured list?
The injured list (IL) is Major League Baseball's roster mechanism for moving injured, ill, or otherwise medically restricted players off the active 26-man roster without releasing them. While on the IL, a player cannot appear in games but continues to accrue service time, draws his full salary, and remains under team control. The IL exists in four flavors — 7-day, 10-day, 15-day, and 60-day — each with its own minimum stay and roster implication. It was renamed from "disabled list" (DL) to "injured list" before the 2019 season after disability-rights advocates objected to the original terminology.
How the IL works
There are four IL designations, each tied to a minimum number of days before reinstatement:
- 7-day IL — Concussion-related injuries only. Introduced in 2011 to encourage teams to flag head injuries promptly without burning a longer stay.
- 10-day IL — Standard designation for position players and relief pitchers. Most short-term soft-tissue injuries land here.
- 15-day IL — Required minimum for starting pitchers and two-way players, instituted in 2022 to discourage rotation gaming where teams "rested" starters via brief IL stints.
- 60-day IL — For long-term injuries. The player is removed from the 40-man roster, opening a spot for an outside addition. A player can be transferred from a shorter IL to the 60-day at any time but cannot be moved off it until 60 days have elapsed.
Placement is retroactive up to 3 days before the move, letting teams date the IL stint to when the injury actually occurred. Rehab assignments — up to 20 days for position players, 30 for pitchers — allow players to face live competition in the minors before being reinstated, without burning a 26-man spot.
Worked example: 2024 Yankees rotation
Gerrit Cole opened the 2024 season on the 15-day IL with nerve inflammation and edema in his pitching elbow. The Yankees backdated his placement to March 28, the day of his final spring outing, and used the open 26-man spot to carry an extra reliever. When the recovery timeline stretched past 60 days, New York transferred Cole to the 60-day IL, opening a 40-man slot for reliever Lou Trivino. Cole returned via a five-game rehab assignment across Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, then was reinstated on June 19. Total IL time: roughly twelve weeks, paid in full, with service time accruing daily.
Why the IL matters
For front offices, agents, and fantasy managers:
- Roster flexibility: The 60-day IL is the single most common mid-season tool teams use to clear 40-man space, enabling waiver claims, Rule 5 retention moves, and prospect call-ups.
- Service time preservation: A full year on the IL still counts as a full year of service time, keeping arbitration and free-agency clocks running.
- Payroll math: Salaries owed to IL players count fully against the competitive balance tax — there is no medical exemption from the luxury tax calculation.
- Fantasy implications: Most fantasy formats have separate IL slots that mirror MLB's designations, letting managers stash injured stars without giving up active-roster spots.
Limitations and common misconceptions
The IL is not a "fake injury" loophole. MLB requires team medical staff to file documentation with the league office, and the commissioner has rejected placements deemed pretextual. The 15-day starter rule specifically closed a workaround where rotations would "IL" a starter for 10 days to skip a turn.
The IL is also distinct from the bereavement list, paternity list, and restricted list — each is a separate designation with its own rules. A player on the 60-day IL keeps his contract, arbitration eligibility, and pension credit; he is simply off the 40-man for roster mechanics.
Related terms
- Service time — accrues normally while on the IL.
- Designated for assignment — an alternate way to clear roster spots.
- Tommy John surgery — a typical 60-day IL trigger with a 12-18 month return curve.
- The luxury tax — IL salaries still count toward the CBT.
- Arbitration — IL time counts toward eligibility.
In Legends Deck: Player cards reflect real injury histories. Tommy John alumni get velocity-recovery curves modeled on their actual return profiles, and chronic-IL players have stamina ratings calibrated to their realistic per-season inning ceilings. Building a deck around a 60-day-IL veteran is a risk-reward play — you get a discounted card cost in exchange for limited availability across the simulated season.