What Robert Suárez to the 60-Day IL Means for Atlanta Braves

The short answer is that this means nothing for the Atlanta Braves. There is no major revelation here for Robert Suárez's recovery. However, since there is usually concer, understandably so, when a player moves to the 60-day injured list, a thing or two needs to be cleared.

Tuesday morning, the Braves announced some roster moves. Along with the expected additions of right-hander Blake Burkhalter and infielder Kyle Farmer for expanded rosters, they announced that Suárez was placed on the 60-day injured list.

Seeing this comes a day after manager Walt Weiss said it was still possible for the right-hander to be back this season. He has two bullpen sessions this week, starting Tuesday, and the next step would be live batting practice before he has a rehab assignment.

As a reliever, he doesn't have to build up much of a pitch could. He can go to Gwinnett to make sure his arsenal is refined for a few outings, and then he could be ready to go. The key at this point is no setbacks. If he were to have one, then that's likely it for him.

If he can be back soon, when why was he placed on the 60-day? It clears a spot on the 40-man roster for another player. Someone else can help the team while he puts the finishing touches on his recovery.

Yes, the general thought for the 60-day is that a player who goes on the list must be on it for 60 days. That's somewhat of a misnomer. The clock doesn't reset. It simply guarantees you can't come back for a total of 60 days.

If that doesn't make sense, let's provide a hypothetical. Let's say a player goes on the 15-day injured list, and he's on it for 25 days. It's clear he needs a few more weeks, so the team transfers him to the 60-day injured list. He can be back in as early as 35 days, which would add up to 60. It doesn't mean he misses a total of 85 days.

For those wondering, and this is a valid question, why didn't they put him on the 60-day injured list? The answer is also understandable. The team didn't thing Suárez was going to be out for 60 days when he first go hurt. He didn't even go on the injured list right away.

At this point, since it's been more than 60 days and it's either a little longer or not at all, they figured this was the time to move him over.

Teams also don't make the move unless the need the space on the 40-man roster. If you've noticed, they haven't been numerically down a man in the pen for over two months. From an injury standpoint, yes, they're down multiple men. But they still have 13 pitchers any given day and have had their options to call up who are on the 40-man roster. With rosters expanding, the Braves don't want to have to remove anybody from the 40-man, which also contributes to the move.

So, hopefully, this clears this up. Suárez could still be back. Let's keep an eye on his recovery.

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