The Cleveland Indians have promoted veteran outfielder Melky Cabrera to the major league roster and he will be the right fielder starting Sunday night against the Houston Astros. Cabrera will bat sixth in the lineup for Sunday’s game.

To make room for Cabrera, the team optioned reliever Evan Marshall to Triple-A Columbus and removed Alexi Ogando from the 40 man roster.

The 33 year old switch hitter signed a minor league deal with the Indians on April 25 and after a brief stint in Goodyear at the Indians complex, Cabrera immediately went to Columbus to join the Indians Triple-A organization.

In ten games with the Clippers, Cabrera hit .286 (12 of 42) with zero home runs and four runs batted in.

In his 13 year major league career with the Yankees, Braves, Royals, Giants, Blue Jays and White Sox, he’s a lifetime .286 hitter with 1,786 hits, 131 home runs and 768 runs batted in.

Last season he spent time with both the White Sox and the Royals and hit .285 with 17 home runs and 85 runs batted in but went unsigned this past winter like many other free agents.

His switch hitting ability is a plus for the Indians that has a lineup primarily of left hander hitters and the Indians have been lacking a switch hitter since losing Carlos Santana when he signed with Philadelphia in the offseason.

With Lonnie Chisenhall, Bradley Zimmer and Tyler Naquin all on the disabled list currently and only having Michael Brantley, Rajai Davis, Greg Allen and Brandon Guyer as the available outfielders, a move needed to be made and Cabrera can help this group out immediately instead of banking on a prospect with no big league experience.

Cabrera can still hit at a productive level and with his experience as a long time veteran in this league, he could be a good presence in the clubhouse especially when it comes to playoff time if he’s still with the club.