Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton went on the disabled list on Aug. 14 with a groin injury, and for a time it appeared that Stanton would miss the remainder of the 2016 season. Then that timetable was revised to allow for the possibility that Stanton would return in time to play a handful of regular season games. Then on Tuesday, this happened ...

Yep, it's Sept. 6, and Stanton is back on the active roster. However, you shouldn't expect the outfielder to resume full-time duties right away. As Clark Spencer tweets, Stanton's going to be used as a pinch hitter for the time being, and it's not certain when he'll be able to return to the starting lineup. If we weren't presently in the September expanded-roster period, then it seems possible that Stanton would still be on the DL. That said, Stanton's speedy return raises hopes that he'll be fully recovered soon enough.

This season, the 26-year-old Stanton is batting .244/.329/.496 (121 OPS+) with 25 homers in 103 games. The Marlins have struggled to get good production from right field in Stanton's absence (Ichiro's numbers have been in decline for some time). Coming into Tuesday's slate, the Marlins are two games under .500 and five games out of wild-card position in the NL. The SportsLine Projection System gives Miami a meager 1.2 percent chance of making the postseason. Needless to say, they need Stanton to contribute as much as possible the rest of the way.