CLEVELAND — Thanks to a depleted bullpen from a 16-inning marathon the night before, the Indians made a flurry of moves prior to their afternoon affair with Oakland on Thursday.

On the first day that major league rosters could expand to 40 players, the Indians recalled pitchers Corey Kluber and Nick Hagadone from Triple-A Columbus. Because Hagadone had not been back in the minors for the required 10 days after being sent down, the Indians had to place a player on the disabled list for the right-hander to return.

The victim was right fielder Shin-Soo Choo, who has been sidelined by a left oblique injury, and was still close to two weeks away from returning.

“The fastest Choo could have made it back was a day or two before we expected,” Indians manager Manny Acta said. “It wasn’t worth taking the risk with our bullpen. It was the right move.”

The Indians are also expected to recall right-handed reliever Josh Judy from Columbus today to join them for their three-game series at Kansas City.

Thanks to the lopsided score and taxed bullpen, Hagadone and Kluber made their big league debuts Thursday, both under unusual circumstances.

Hagadone relieved starter Fausto Carmona with the bases loaded and no outs in the seventh inning and retired all three batters he faced before allowing a pair of runs in the eighth.
Kluber, a career starter, followed Hagadone to make his first relief appearance of the season, allowing two hits and striking out two in 1 1⁄3 innings.

“(Hagadone) really showed a good heartbeat today,” Acta said. “That was impressive. It was a good start for them and it gave the bullpen some rest.”

Hagadone, a hard-throwing left-hander acquired in a trade with Boston for Victor Martinez in 2009, is a combined 6-4 with a 2.83 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 54 games (70 innings) for Columbus and Double-A Akron.

Kluber, acquired from San Diego last year in a three-team trade that sent Jake Westbrook to St. Louis, is 7-10 with a 5.65 ERA in 26 starts for Columbus.

Center it

Grady Sizemore (right knee) was expected to continue his rehab assignment with Akron on Thursday, playing six innings in center field.

Sizemore went 0-for-3 as the Aeros’ designated hitter in his rehab debut Wednesday.

Scuffling shortstop

As the Indians pull into a pivotal final month of the season, All-Star shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera is slumping.

Cabrera, who is tied with Carlos Santana for the team lead in homers (21) and leads the club with 78 RBIs, is batting just .151 (8-for-53) over his last 13 games. He is hitting .259 (58-for-224) in 57 games since June 26.

Next up

Justin Masterson (10-8, 2.83 ERA) opens the series against the Royals tonight (8:10), opposing LHP Bruce Chen (10-5, 3.94), while David Huff (2-2, 2.08) goes for the Indians on Saturday (7:10 p.m.) against RHP Luke Hochevar (9-10, 4.97).

Jeanmar Gomez (1-2, 4.55) starts the series finale Sunday (2:10 p.m.), the Royals countering with LHP Jeff Francis (5-14, 4.64).

Rehabbing Rondon

One time prized pitching prospect, right-hander Hector Rondon, began a rehab assignment with Class A Mahoning Valley on Wednesday, allowing a run on two hits and striking out one in two innings of the Scrappers’ 6-2 loss to Williamsport.

Rondon, 23, was Cleveland’s minor league pitcher of the year in 2009 before elbow problems in 2010 led to Tommy John surgery last Aug. 25.

Minor details

Columbus first baseman Beau Mills had a big game Wednesday in a 12-4 win at Louisville. Cleveland’s first-round draft pick in 2007 went 4-for-5 with his sixth home run, a double, two runs and an RBI. He began the season at Akron and entered Thursday batting .250 with six homers and 17 RBIs in 33 games since his promotion.

It’s been a rough first full professional season for outfielder LeVon Washington but he had a positive night Wednesday in Class A Lake County’s 7-3 loss to West Michigan, going 2-for-5 with a triple. He is batting just .209 with three homers, 18 RBIs and 14 stolen bases in 74 games for the Captains.

Roundin’ third

• The 16 innings Cleveland and Oakland played Wednesday accounted for the second-longest game at Progressive Field and equaled the longest game in the majors.
• The win Wednesday was the Indians’ 33rd comeback victory of the season, which ranked second in the American League to Boston’s 37. It was Cleveland’s 11th walk-off win and 22nd in its last at-bat. The 22 last-at-bat wins were tied with Atlanta for the most in the majors through Wednesday.

Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.