Braves’ Diaz still hopes to get on field

Matt Diaz will be down to the last four games of the season before he has a chance to be cleared. But he’s holding out hope he can play.

Diaz will visit his knee specialist Tuesday in Vail, Colo. and join the Braves in Philadelphia on Wednesday.

“I’d love nothing more after putting in all this work this year to sneak in an at-bat or two,” Diaz said. “My first priority is to get the doctor to say I’m healthy.”

After the series in Philadelphia, the Braves wrap up the season on the road against Houston on Sept. 26-28.

Diaz has been out since May 27 when he strained the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee crashing into the fence in foul territory in Milwaukee.

He was supposed to miss only six weeks but had multiple setbacks during minor-league rehabilitation assignments. The specialist thinks Diaz’s problems were caused by weakness in the muscles around the knee and not by the ligament.

Diaz has been rebuilding knee strength by running, hitting and shagging flyballs in batting practice.

This season was the season Diaz got a chance to play every day in left field. But it has become painfully obvious the Braves need to add power in the outfield, and left field is a likely target. Their 25 homers from the outfield rank last in the National League.

“I know it’s going to be a long shot for me to come into next year with a job to lose like I did this year,” said Diaz, who is eligible for arbitration this winter. “However, I believe I’ve shown value off the bench over the last few years, value against lefties. I definitely think I can help this team next year in whatever role.

“I’ll never concern myself with ‘am I playing every day? Am I going in as the starter?’ No. 1 the season is too long. No. 2 if you’re playing for Bobby Cox, you’re going to get used.”

Diaz said a priority this offseason will be getting comfortable playing first base, where he has played only two games.

Prado to left field

Yunel Escobar missed his fourth consecutive start with a hamstring strain and said Wednesday he had seen no improvement overnight. So Omar Infante started at shortstop, and Cox gave Martin Prado his first major-league start in left field against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Prado played left field the last two years in winter ball in his native Venezuela. And he’s had a hot bat. Prado has hit .350 (43-for-123) since the All-Star break, which is 11th in the majors (for players with a minimum of 100 at-bats).

The more positions he has shown he can play — and he has tried three new ones this season (first, shortstop and left field) — the better his chances are of making the team next year as a utility player. Prado played 14 games at first base during the time Casey Kotchman missed because of his mother’s illness. He did a steady job.

“I love the Braves,” said Prado, who had played second and third base during stints in the majors in 2006 and 2007. “Whatever happens, I want to do the best that I can to stay here.”

2009 schedule is AL East heavy

The Braves will open the 2009 season on the road against the Phillies on April 6. After a day off they continue the series April 8-9. The Braves, who released a tentative schedule Wednesday, will open at Turner Field on April 10 against the Washington Nationals.

The Braves are back playing the AL East in interleague play. The Yankees will come to Atlanta for the first time since 2000 on June 23-25, the Red Sox on June 26-28 and the Blue Jays on May 22-24. The Braves will travel to Baltimore and Boston.

The AL East play will give them a tough stretch from June 19-July 2 when they play three games in Boston then come home to play three games against the Yankees, the Red Sox, and the Phillies.