A.J. Ellis activated from DL, Dodgers option Miguel Olivo to Triple-A

LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers on Wednesday activated catcher A.J. Ellis from the disabled list before their series finale against the Marlins, five weeks and a day after he had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. To make room for Ellis, the Dodgers optioned catcher Miguel Olivo to Triple-A Albuquerque.

Ellis is starting for the Dodgers and batting eighth on Wednesday.

Ellis was 2-for-5 with a home run, a walk, and a caught stealing in his two games with Triple-A Albuquerque on Sunday and Monday, a minor league rehab assignment that also included the better part of a week in extended spring training at the Dodgers facility at Camelback Ranch in Arizona.

4 days in Minny , 3 days in MIA, 2 days in DC,6 days in PHX ,3 days in El Paso. What a trip but I'm back in LA, healthy and ready to go!

— AJ Ellis (@AJEllis17) May 13, 2014

Ellis missed 34 games after catching every inning of the first seven games of the year. Dodgers catchers in his absence hit .183/.241/.283 and threw out eight of 28 runners attempting to steal (28.6%).

Ellis was caught stealing in his rehab assignment on Sunday, and he said it wasn't just a case of being overly aggressive to test the knee. He also invoked the movie "Rookie of the Year."

"It's one thing I told them I wanted to do, just be a regular baseball player. It was a 3-2 count and they put me in motion. It was a great test. It was the first slide I was able to make since I was on the disabled list. I did it without thinking which was a good thing," Ellis said. "Unfortunately with the knee surgery, it wasn't a Henry Rowengartner situation where I got faster in my knee like he did with his elbow throwing."

Olivo signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers in January and began the season in Triple-A. After hitting .390/.438/.661 in 15 games with Albuquerque, he was called up to replace a struggling Tim Federowicz, who was 5-for-46 with the Dodgers this season.

Olivo had five hits, including a triple, and reached base six times in his first three games with the Dodgers, but dating back to May 3 was hitless in his last 13 at-bats, with nine strikeouts.

Drew Butera started and caught the last four games for the Dodgers.

That Olivo was optioned rather than designated for assignment is because he and the Dodgers agreed to an advance-consent clause once he was called up that the team could send him down to the minors within his first 45 days up. It is a clause that Chone Figgins agreed to when he made the team in spring training and one new Marlins pitcher Randy Wolf declined with Seattle at the end of March.