Indians outfielder Johnny Damon, who's been working himself into game shape in extended spring training, will join the team on Tuesday in Chicago just in time for the three-game series with the White Sox that begins that same night.
The Tribe could certainly use him. Grady Sizemore is out until at least early June after undergoing back surgery during spring training, and Shin-Soo Choo is presently sidelined with a hamstring injury. Meanwhile, left fielder Shelley Duncan badly needs a left-handed platoon partner and is already looking overexposed as a regular. Damon isn't much with the glove these days and should never be allowed to face a lefty, but he can help the Indians.
The 38-year-old Damon is coming off a season in which he hit .261/.326/.418 with 16 home runs as the primary DH for the Rays. He needs 277 hits to reach 3,000 for his career.
Damon signed a minor-league deal with the team on April 17 and that will become a one-year, $1.26 million major-league deal once he's added to the active roster. Damon's spent the last two weeks at the team's spring-training complex in Arizona preparing to join the team.
