Does an MLB Team's Disabled List Influence Their Performance in the Post Season?

• Activity Number: 195
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Monday, August 2, 2010 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Statistics in Sports
• Author(s): I. Elaine Allen+ and Julia E. Seaman*
• Companies: Babson College and Genentech
• Keywords: sports ; baseball ; modeling ; time series

Abstract

Using data from major league baseball from 2002-2009, we examine the disabled list (DL) overall, by league, and by team and its influence on performing well in the post season. Models to predict participation and performance in the post-season are fit using total days on the DL by a player, the team's standing on that date, the player's position, the player's performance to date, and the time during the season are included. Since 2002, over 3500 major league baseball players have been on the disabled list for all or part of a season. The American League has averaged 11 to 14 players per team on the DL between 2002 and 2009 while the National League has averaged 13 to 17 players per team during the same time period. The average number of days on the DL was similar for both leagues (55.8 for the NL vs. 57.3 for the AL). A player's position contributes to the probability of being on the DL.