Lake Buena Vista, Fla. — Chipper Jones sent a scare through Braves camp when he left batting practice after feeling a twinge in his right hamstring Sunday.

After seeing the trainers and icing it down, Jones said it wasn't serious. He said he expected to be out only for a couple of days and declared it just his "first tweak of spring."

AP (ENLARGE)

Braves coach Glenn Hubbard is not a big fan of wearing protective headgear on the field, which is required by Major League Baseball. Third base coach Brian Snitker complains that the flapless catcher's helmet has given him headaches.

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When asked if he was concerned, Jones said "No," interrupting the question. "You're going to do it down here from time to time," he said. "Caught it early enough, it shouldn't be a big deal."

Jones said he first felt a little soreness while taking infield. He didn't pay much attention to it. Then the hamstring "balled up" when he was hitting.

"I felt it pretty good right-handed in the cage and then I took two swings to see how it felt left-handed," Jones said. "I figured I'd stop it. Just overextended it a little bit."

For all the injuries Jones has had in recent years — with his oblique, his feet, and last year his hands following a basepath collision — he hasn't had any hamstring problems since 2004. That's when he went on the DL with a strain in the same right hamstring, but he said this one is not even close.

"This is hopefully a couple days," Jones said. "It's not near as bad as '04; '04 was scary."

On his way off the field during batting practice, he slammed his bat into the bat rack. The last thing he wants is to be plagued by injuries like 2005 and 2006 when he played only 109 and 110 games respectively.

"[I'm mad] any time I've got to take myself out," Jones said. "I don't like feeling this way, but I've got to be cautious down here. I'm not going to go and blow it out and miss all of spring training. Just take my couple days now and get it behind me."

Headgear discomfort

Braves coaches Brian Snitker and Glenn Hubbard are not big fans of wearing protective headgear on the field now, which is required by Major League Baseball. Snitker said the "skullcap," a flapless catcher's helmet, has given him headaches.

"The helmets are not comfortable," said Snitker, Braves third base coach. "You watch a guy that gets on base after a hit, the first thing they do is take their helmet off. ... I guess you'll get used to it after a while, and it'll just be something you deal with."

MLB mandated coaches wear protective headgear after the death of Colorado minor-league coach Mike Coolbaugh, who took a line drive to the back of the neck.

"I think the reason for it was a freak accident," Snitker said. "A tragedy. And I hate the fact that it happened. But I'm not sure that's the answer."

When asked if he felt safer in a helmet, Snitker said: "No, not at all. That's not where I think I'm going to get hit. I'm going to get hit in the back or the legs."

After nearly getting hit by Jeff Francouer and Andruw Jones on foul balls last year, Snitker moved farther up the third baseline.

Hubbard was critical of wearing helmets recently.

"I probably should wear one, fine," Hubbard said. "If you polled, I think a majority of coaches would probably say we don't want to wear them. It they were really concerned about safety they would move the (coaches' boxes) back."

Etc.

Omar Infante was headed to Atlanta Monday to have the pin removed from his left hand. He's been in a cast for six weeks, since being hit by a pitch during the Venezuelan winter league. Braves general manager Frank Wren said the utility player should be back no later than the first week of the season. ... Rafael Soriano was scheduled to pitch Sunday but has had problems with a stomach bug. Manager Bobby Cox said he would throw in a couple of days.