Sellers brings strong defense to Indians

CHICAGO -- Justin Sellers asked Chris Tremie, his manager at Triple-A Columbus, if he could drive his wife and child to Louisville for the upcoming series, and he received a surprising response.

Tremie called to say, no, Sellers could not. Instead, he needed to head to Chicago to join the Indians ahead of their four-game series with the White Sox.

"It was kind of a cool way he did it, but any time you find out you're going to big leagues, it's good," Sellers said of how Tremie delivered the news of his callup.

Sellers is taking the roster spot of Lonnie Chisenhall, who is on paternity leave. Chisenhall's wife, Meredith, gave birth to their second son, Cannon, on Thursday. Indians manager Terry Francona said Chisenhall will take three days off and rejoin the team on Sunday.

The Indians acquired Sellers from the Dodgers in March. He impressed in Spring Training, putting together a .450/.542/.600 slash line in 20 at-bats.

"Well, the reason we got him was because he could catch the ball so well, which we saw," Francona said. "And then he came in and swung the bat, after sitting for about the nine days, really swung that bat well, which is always nice to see. But what he really can do is catch the ball, whether you put him at second or short or third. He's got really good defensive instincts."

Several other players were excited to see Sellers, in particular Nick Swisher, who gave him a big bear hug.

"That felt good, picking me up off my feet like that, give me a hug -- it shows that he missed me a little bit," Sellers said. "That makes me feel good, especially from Swish."