CLEVELAND — With both Victor Martinez and Josh Barfield landing on the disabled list Thursday, the Indians were forced to orchestrate more roster maneuvers.
Cleveland promoted infielder Jorge Velandia and catcher Yamid Haad from Triple-A Buffalo, clearing spots on the 40-man roster for the pair by moving Jake Westbrook to the 60-day disabled list and designating Buffalo pitcher Oneili Perez for assignment.
Westbrook underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow Thursday and will not pitch again this year, while Perez was recently claimed off waivers from the White Sox and was considered expendable.
Kelly Shoppach will handle the starting catching duties in Martinez’s absence, with Haad, who hit .159 with three doubles and three RBIs in 25 games for Buffalo, backing him up. Shoppach entered Thursday hitting .225 with three home runs and seven RBIs in 31 games as Martinez’s backup.
“He’ll be fine,” said Martinez of Shoppach in the starting role. “This is the big leagues. Everyone can play.”
Jamey Carroll is expected to log the majority of playing time at second base in the absence of Barfield, who was recently promoted from Buffalo to replace a struggling Asdrubal Cabrera.
Velandia, 33, will also be an infield option, batting .235 with a double and two RBIs in 16 games for the Bisons after being signed from Toronto as a minor league free agent on May 26. He is a lifetime .182 hitter in 166 big league games with the Padres, A’s, Mets, Rays and Blue Jays.
Cabrera, who was hitting .184 in 50 games when he was sent down, was not a consideration for promotion, according to manager Eric Wedge.
“He needs to stay down there and get himself to where he needs to get to,” Wedge said.     

Catching on

In need of catching depth, the Indians acquired Damaso Espino on Thursday from Kansas City in exchange for cash considerations.
Espino has spent the season at Triple-A Omaha as a backup catcher, where he hit .167 in 13 games. He was assigned to Double-A Akron.
Espino has spent his nine-year professional career with KC and Cincinnati, advancing to the Triple-A level for the first time this season.

Next up

The Indians host their first interleague series of the year, with San Diego visiting Progressive Field for a three-game set that begins tonight at 7:05.
Jeremy Sowers (0-1, 6.91) opens the series, opposing RHP Josh Banks (2-0, 0.39), while Cliff Lee (10-1, 2.52) goes on Saturday (7:05) against RHP Cha Seung Baek (1-1, 3.97).
C.C. Sabathia (4-8, 4.34) is slated to start the series finale Sunday (1:05), while the Padres counter with RHP Greg Maddux (3-4, 3.33).
The Sabathia-Maddux matchup features two former Cy Young Award winners with 11 combined all-star game appearances — Maddux accounting for eight. It will be just the second regular- season appearance in Cleveland for Maddux, who lost Game 5 of the 1995 World Series at Jacobs Field, before the Braves won Game 6 to clinch the title.
The Indians and Padres have met just six times, with Cleveland winning four of them.

Roundin’ third

The Indians have added three former Indians — Charles Nagy, Greg Swindell and Carlos Baerga — to their list of instructors for Fantasy Camp in Goodyear, Ariz., next spring training. The trio will join ex-Cleveland players Bob Feller, Rick Manning, Len Barker, Cory Snyder and others.
• Sabathia, Paul Byrd, Jhonny Peralta, Ben Francisco, Casey Blake, Carroll and Ryan Garko will be at Dick’s Sporting Goods in Westlake (Crocker Park) today from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., as part of the “Shop with a Pro” program.
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. 

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