Lee promoted for second game of doubleheader

OAKLAND -- It is no secret that Indians manager Terry Francona loves carrying as many relievers as possible. In true Francona style, he will have nine arms in his bullpen for the second game of Wednesday's split doubleheader.

Cleveland recalled right-hander C.C. Lee prior to the second game to serve as the 26th man on the roster. According to baseball's rules, Lee is only eligible for Game 2 as the extra player due to the postponement being on the previous day.

"We'll get him here, try to get his legs under him a little bit," Francona said. "And he'll be available for the second game."

Cleveland opened the season with eight relievers, only three extra position players and no traditional backup catcher. Yan Gomes serves as the starting catcher for the Indians, who then use Carlos Santana as the backup catcher, third baseman and designated hitter.

Gomes and Santana are the only catchers on the 40-man roster, so Francona said the team did not spend much time discussing adding a third catcher for the doubleheader.

"That's hard to do," Francona said. "I don't think we probably could have thought about it."

The 27-year-old Lee appeared in eight games for the Indians last season, posting a 4.15 ERA with four strikeouts and three walks in 4 1/3 innings. In 29 Minor League appearances in 2013, the right-hander had a 2.48 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 37 strikeouts and 10 walks in 29 innings.

During Spring Training, Lee had a 3.24 ERA to go along with 12 strikeouts and five walks in 8 1/3 innings for Cleveland.

"The organization loves him, myself included," Francona said. "There's so much to like about him. It's just, early in the year, when you don't know what innings are going to be there ... you can get a guy in Triple-A to get consistent innings. That can be a real help. He's going to help us. There's no doubt, he's going to help us this year."