Jason Kipnis Injury: Updates on Indians Star's Shoulder and Return

Cleveland Indians All-Star second baseman Jason Kipnis was dealing with a shoulder injury that had forced him onto the disabled list, but he is set to return to the lineup.

Continue for updates.

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Kipnis Activated from Disabled List 

Tuesday, Aug. 18

Chris Assenheimer of the Chronicle-Telegram passed along word of Kipnis' return, adding that Chris Johnson was moved to the DL as part of the roster move.

Expectations were high for the Indians in 2015. Sports Illustrated chose Cleveland to win the World Series, which many fans saw as the kiss of death after SI's now-infamous cover singing the praises of a team that would go on to finish 73-89 in 1987:

The Indians have suffered from myriad problems this year. The offense hasn't quite clicked, and SI.com's Cliff Corcoran noted that the defense has been almost an entirely new brand of awful.

Kipnis has been one of the few constants. He hit a scorching .429 in May with four home runs and 17 RBI, and followed it up by hitting .358 in June. As a result, the 28-year-old has been the most valuable second baseman in baseball, per FanGraphs.

Taking Kipnis' bat out of the lineup obviously hurt Cleveland, but in truth, the Indians might have been doomed even before his injury.

They currently sit six games back in the wild-card race. According to Baseball Prospectus, they have a 5.4 percent chance of reaching the postseason.