St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Matt Carpenter suffered a right oblique injury July 6 against the Pittsburgh Pirates and was placed on the disabled list the following day. However, he has been cleared to return.

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Carpenter Active vs. Braves

Friday, Aug. 5

The Cardinals announced Carpenter will play against the Atlanta Braves on Friday.

Carpenter Has Been Extremely Durable with Cardinals 

This was a concerning setback for Carpenter, because durability has been one of his calling cards during his career. He had played in at least 154 games in each of the last three years coming into the 2016 campaign.

The 2013 and 2014 All-Star is one of the best hitters in the Cardinals lineup. He won the 2013 Silver Slugger Award with a .318 average and a National League-leading 199 hits but became more of a power force during the 2015 season.

Carpenter had not hit more than 11 long balls in a season before last year, but he erupted for 28 homers and 84 RBI as one of the anchors of the Cardinals lineup in 2015. He helped his team win the National League Central over the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs, who had to settle for wild-card spots.

Thus far, Carpenter has a strong case to make as the National League MVP front-runner in 2016. Prior to the injury, he was leading the NL with a .420 on-base percentage and ranked sixth with a .568 slugging percentage in addition to a .298 average with 14 home runs and 53 RBI.

St. Louis has a more dangerous lineup with the power-hitting second baseman's return.