CHICAGO -- The Indians roster continues to spin and Thursday it brought good news to one player and bad news to another.

Manager Terry Francona said catcher Yan Gomes will come off the disabled list and catch for the Indians on Sunday against Cincinnati at Progressive Field. Gomes has not played with the Tribe since injuring his right knee in the ninth inning on April 11 against Detroit.

Left-hander TJ House was activated from the disabled list Thursday in another move and optioned to Class AAA Columbus. He opened the season in the Indians' rotation, but went on the DL on May 1 with a sore left shoulder.

House threw five scoreless innings in a rehab start for Columbus on Wednesday. Gomes was his catcher.

Gomes was scheduled to DH for the Clippers on Thursday night and catch nine innings on Friday to clear his final hurdle before rejoining the Indians.

When Gomes sprained the medial collateral ligament in his right knee on a play at the plate on April 11, the Indians medical staff said he'd need six to eight weeks of recovery time. If he plays Sunday, Gomes will have made it back in six weeks.

"After Gomes caught House, he went out in the bullpen and simulated catching two more innings," said Francona. "Gomes is trying so hard to get back that I didn't want him to look at this as a penalty (having to catch nine innings before being activated).

"We just want to try and make a good decision. Part of this is how important he is to us. I've said it before ... you want your catcher to be indispensable. That's probably the ultimate compliment to him. Then when they're not around, you find out that maybe they are."

Roberto Perez and Brett Hayes have filled in. When Gomes returns, one of them will have to go.

"We've been fortunate with Perez and Hayes," said Francona. "They haven't hit for average, but each have hit three homers and done a pretty good job behind the plate.

"They have different skill sets. Hayes is more of a veteran. Roberto, I might have caught him too much early. That would be on me. I do think in the long run it's been good for him."

House had a breakout season last year, but struggled through part of spring training and four starts this season before going on the disabled list. GM Chris Antonetti, who is on the this trip, told House about the move on a phone call.

"The thought is that TJ is healthy now so we'll option him down," said Francona. "The reality of it was who should we get rid of? Would it have been fair to say to Shaun Marcum, "Hey, man, thanks for the seven dazzling innings.'"

Marcum made his first big-league start in almost two years Wednesday and pitched 6 2/3 innings in a win over Chicago. Marcum was out of options, but House has one left.

The Indians are working on their third No.5 starter following House and Bruce Chen, who retired Monday after making two starts.

"TJ probably doesn't feel like hearing this right now, but it had been a struggle since the middle of spring training," said Francona. "We want him to find himself. That is going to be better for him in the long run.

"The hope is he'll understand it and do it because you can never have enough pitching."

House is 0-4 with a 13.15 ERA in four starts this year.

He's back: First baseman Carlos Santana returned to the lineup after missing four games with back spasms.

Francona put him back in the No.2 spot, even though Jose Ramirez has done a nice job there in the first three games of the Chicago series.

On April 26, Francona moved Jason Kipnis into the leadoff spot. On May 5, he moved Santana to second from the cleanup spot to take advantage of his on-base percentage and to create more scoring chances for Michael Brantley.

Asked if he considered going with Ramirez in the No.2 spot, Francona said, "I guess I would say why? You've got a guy (Ramirez) hitting .198 with an on-base percentage of .262. The other guy has a .400 (.365) on base percentage.

"I think Jose is starting to play better, which is great. But Santana has years of a high on-base percentage and that's a nice thing."

Mini-vacation: This four-game series has been a vacation for David Murphy and Lonnie Chisenhall because the White Sox started four left-handers.

Francona said Wednesday that he was going to start Chisenhall on Thursday, but he stayed with Mike Aviles at third base. Aviles homered in the first inning to give the Tribe a 4-0 lead.

"I'm just trying to strike a balance," said Francona. "He's not swinging that great right now. Sitting might not always help, but we have three righties coming up (with Cincinnati) and Aviles has done a pretty good job."

Chisenhall is hitting .228 (13-for-57) in May.