Schafer could miss 2 weeks due to hand injury

Center fielder Jordan Schafer, who was demoted to Class AAA Gwinnett last week, could miss about two weeks after being diagnosed with a deep bone bruise in his left hand.

Schafer played with a sore left wrist for much of his two months with the Braves, but this injury is to the hand. He told team officials he felt a “pop” in his hand during a swing Friday with Gwinnett.

He had an MRI and two visits this week to a hand specialist, who diagnosed the bone bruise.

One of the Braves’ top prospects, Schafer, 22, won the center-field job with a strong showing during spring training. The Braves traded Josh Anderson to Detroit after deciding Schafer would be the center fielder.

He was sent down after batting .204 in 50 games, with eight doubles, two homers, eight RBIs and 63 strikeouts in 167 at-bats.

“Maybe that’s part of what was wrong with him,” manager Bobby Cox said, referring to Schafer’s wrist injury.

General manager Frank Wren said the hand injury Friday wasn’t believed to be related to the wrist injury.

Schafer went 8-for-19 with two homers in the first five games of the season for the Braves, but hit .176 with a .289 on-base percentage and .216 slugging percentage in his remaining 45 games before the demotion.

He struck out 59 times with 24 walks in 173 plate appearances in that 45-game period.

Schafer initially hurt his wrist on a swing in the Braves’ April 10 home opener against Washington. He played with the wrist wrapped during his remaining time with the Braves.

Schafer insisted several times that the sore wrist was not the cause for his hitting woes, particularly his high strikeout total.

Prado ailing

Greg Norton made his second consecutive start at first base Wednesday in place of Martin Prado, who has a strained groin.

Prado had played every game since first baseman Casey Kotchman injured his right calf and shin when hit by a pitch at Arizona on May 31.

Kotchman, who is on the 15-day disabled list, took infield and jogged some Wednesday for the first time since the injury. The Braves hope to have him back early in the nine-game road trip that begins Friday at Baltimore.

Norton had not played any games in the field until Tuesday, when he went 0-for-4 to drop his batting average to .108. The veteran is 4-for-33 (.121) as a pinch-hitter, including 2-for-26 batting left-handed.