A mere seven weeks into the regular season, the Los Angeles Dodgers have made frequent use of the 10-day disabled list. While it’s meant incurring an injury, relief has also been provided in the starting rotation.
As of Friday, Dodgers starting pitchers who have landed on the DL during the season are Rich Hill (twice), Brandon McCarthy, Kenta Maeda and Hyun-Jin Ryu. Brock Stewart began the year on the disabled list.
Given their depth, the Dodgers are comfortable with using extreme caution and putting a player, particularly a pitcher, on the DL. That it provides a de facto period of rest is a benefit.
Maeda was the most recent of the starters to be put on the disabled list, going down with left hamstring tightness. It came one night after he threw a career-high 8.1 innings, and the timing could have been worse.
Los Angeles needed to clear a spot on their 25-man roster to activate and start Ryu. According to Andy McCullough and Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times, the circumstances surrounding Maeda’s DL stint were investigated by the league:
The commissioner’s office reviewed the Maeda situation, according to a person familiar with the situation but not authorized to discuss it publicly. The Dodgers are not expected to face any repercussions, in part because the team holds minor-league options on Maeda, and did not need to find an injury to remove him from the 25-man roster.
All teams are required to keep detailed information and store players’ medical information on a central database, with pertinent information made available in the event of a trade.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts clarified the injury was not something Maeda experienced in his start against the Pittsburgh Pirates, but rather that the right-hander had pitched through the tightness for multiple weeks.
Maeda joined High-A Rancho Cucamonga on a rehab assignment Friday night, and he’s expected to join the Dodgers rotation next week during their series with the St. Louis Cardinals.
