Braves have pinch-hitter deluxe in Norton

Philadelphia — Braves manager Bobby Cox often frets when he doesn’t think he has given a bench player enough starts and at-bats to keep the player sharp.

But not with Greg Norton, who has performed better when used solely as a pinch-hitter. A lot better.

Norton was 17-for-51 (.333) as a pinch-hitter before Tuesday, compared to his .217 average (25-for-115) in non-pinch-hitting roles for the Braves.

Most of his non-pinch at-bats came when the switch-hitting veteran was needed in left field or first base earlier in the season. Lately he has stuck to pinch-hitting, and no one in baseball is doing it better.

Norton led the National League with 17 pinch-hit RBIs before Tuesday, including 11 RBIs in 20 at-bats during a torrid stretch of pinch-hitting since Aug. 22. He was second in the league with 17 pinch-hits.

He came to Atlanta from Seattle in a May 5 trade for a minor-league pitcher.

Since Aug. 22, Norton is 9-for-20 with three homers, eight walks and four strikeouts, with a .607 on-base pecentage and .950 slugging percentage. He hasn’t started a game since Aug. 20 and played in the field once in four weeks.

“He and I talked about that,” hitting coach Terry Pendleton said of Norton’s comfort level in the pinch-hitting role. “He probably goes out there thinking and worrying about playing defense, instead of focusing on that one at-bat [the way he does as a pinch-hitter].”

Pinch-hitting is regarded as one of baseball’s toughest jobs, but Norton is making it look easy lately.

“Really the only time that I’ve been a pinch-hitter was in Colorado from 2001 to 2003,” Norton said. “I had four years where I was in the American League, a left-handed guy off the bench to pinch-hit for guys. But in the American League you might get 10 to 15 pinch-hit appearances a year.

“I had a routine and a plan that I kept from Colorado, so I know what I needed to do, and it was just getting back into that role and getting comfortable.”

Before Tuesday, he had been intentionally walked in three consecutive games as a pinch-hitter.

“That’s respect,” Pendleton said. “He’s earned that with the way he’s pinch-hit.”

Injury updates

Chipper Jones (right shoulder inflammation) and Yunel Escobar (hamstring strain) were out of the lineup again Tuesday, the fourth consecutive start Jones has missed and the 10th in a row for Escobar.

Jones hoped to return to the lineup Wednesday for the series finale against the Phillies, but there are indications Escobar won’t do more than pinch-hit in the Braves’ final four games, including a season-ending series that begins Friday in Houston.