EDIT (2:00 ET, Sunday): Kipnis is out of the starting lineup today, and now Francona says Kipnis "could be" headed to the DL. He had an MRI this morning. A very disappointing development in the story.

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Jason Kipnis has been dealing with a sore right shoulder recently, which explains why he's been at DH in three games this week, including Friday and Saturday's games. Manager Terry Francona says he does not think the injury is serious, and expects Kipnis to be back at second base for Sunday afternoon's game.

"His throwing shoulder is just a little bit sore. I don't think it's anything we need to worry about, but I just would rather stay out ahead of it. It doesn't hurt him one lick hitting..."

Kipnis has been one of the very best players in baseball this season. FanGraphs has him with 5.1 WAR already, putting him in a tie with Clayton Kershaw and Manny Machado for the 5th highest total in baseball. In the American League, only Mike Trout has clearly been better. He had a bad week and a half leading into the All-Star break, but has rebounded to hit .345/.400/.414 so far in the second half. For the season, he leads all of MLB with 132 hits and 31 doubles. His .326 batting average has him in contention for the batting crown, and his .401 OBP has him in contention for the "doesn't have a name, but is more important than the batting crown."

If the injury proves to be at all serious, the Indians should put Kipnis on the DL, because his longterm health is more important to the team than his next two months, but obviously we'll hope it doesn't come to that, because Kipnis' tremendous play has been one of the bright spots in this frustrating season.