Jason Kipnis (back) will play five innings defensively in a minor league game Wednesday, and will get an at-bat in each inning, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports. He hopes to rejoin the big league club for a game Thursday if all goes well.

Kipnis (back) will play five innings defensively in a minor league game Wednesday, and will get an at-bat in each inning, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports. He hopes to rejoin the big league club for a game Thursday if all goes well.

Analysis:

Kipnis appears to be on track for Opening Day at this point, but back issues can resurface and delay the timetable. If all goes well, however, he should be able to get enough work in over the next couple weeks to be ready.