Braves’ Kelly Johnson reacts to benching

What’s good for Martin Prado is not so good for Kelly Johnson, after manager Bobby Cox said Tuesday night that it was time to give Prado a shot at the everyday second base job.

But the numbers stacked up against Johnson, who has hit only .168 with no home runs and five RBIs in his past 28 games. His season average was down to .216 entering Wednesday night’s game.

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Curtis Compton /ccompton@ajc.com

Braves second baseman Kelly Johnson, who lost his starting job to Martin Prado, says he’ll play any role the team wants him to.

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“I’m not playing well, not hitting well,” Johnson said. “I want to get on track. I want to be in a good position and be ready, so I can have good at-bats and just play as good as I can to help the team win.”

Johnson is prepared for whatever role that turns out to be, even if it’s strictly coming off the bench.

“I want us to win games,” Johnson said. “I want to do what I can to be a part of it, to help and do my part. That’s the bottom line. That could be a number of things. That could be bunting, running the bases, defense late in a game, it could be being a good cheerleader, being a good teammate.”

Johnson spent much of last season in a platoon with Prado, but now his numbers against right-handed pitchers don’t warrant a platoon. He’s hitting only .176 against right-handers.

“It’s just been a tough year,” Johnson said. “It’s certainly uncharacteristic to hit so poorly for two months. It’s just the way the game goes. It can humble everybody.”

Johnson hit .203 in April, .297 in May and .125 in June, but he’s hopeful he can turn himself around the last three months of the season.

“It’s a long season; there are a lot of baseball games, a lot of at-bats to go around,” Johnson said. “That’s just the nature of the game. No team can go without battling some sort of adversity, and everybody on the team, one through 25, is going to get a chance to contribute.”

McLouth, Escobar still out

Nate McLouth (hamstring) and Yunel Escobar (hip flexor) were still out of the lineup Wednesday against the Phillies. McLouth was ready to play Tuesday night, but Cox had noticed he was a little off while running in the outfield during batting practice.

“He’s real close,” Cox said. “I’m going to give him another day.”

Escobar, meanwhile, isn’t talking himself back into the lineup yet. Escobar missed his fifth consecutive start Wednesday. Cox said it’s because his hip is bothering him, not the speculation swirling that there’s discord between the Braves and Escobar.

“He’s got a little-bitty tear, what they think it is, in his hip flexor, but it’s a day-to-day thing,” Cox said.