NEW YORK — When Jordan Schafer walked off the field Friday night with an ice pack on his face, he thought he might be headed for surgery. Little did he know he might return to the field before the weekend series with the Mets is over, despite fouling a bunt attempt off his face.

Schafer originally was told in the emergency room Friday night that he had broken his nose because the swelling was pushing his nose to the side. But a subsequent CT scan revealed he had only a small sinus fracture in his upper right cheek, and it wasn’t considered serious.

“I thought it was going to be something much worse,” said Schafer, who said as soon as he opened his eyes and looked down Friday he saw blood on his batting glove. “I could tell my teeth were loose. I thought for sure I would need some kind of surgery, but thank God, I don’t know how, but everything is OK.”

Schafer was expected to be cleared by a Mets doctor Saturday afternoon, which meant he could have returned Saturday night as a pinch runner or late-game defensive substitute.

Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said he doubted he would use Schafer on Saturday night, but if the swelling in his face goes down, he could play him Sunday night against the Mets. If Schafer has his way, it will be in the starting lineup.

“As long as the swelling goes down and I can see, I want to play,” said Schafer, who’s been icing his face every hour or so. “Hopefully tomorrow night I can go ahead and start playing.”

Gonzalez wants to get Schafer back in the batter’s box as soon as possible, before he has long to think about the freak accident. Schafer was attempting a drag bunt up the first-base line in the fifth inning Friday night and got a pitch up and in from left-hander Jonathan Niese.

“I was trying to get out of the way,” said Schafer, who has not and didn’t want to watch a video replay. “I think it nipped the handle of my bat and changed direction and got me in the face.”

Beachy ready to face hitters

Brandon Beachy came through a 60-pitch bullpen session Saturday without any problems and is ready for the next step in his rehabilitation from an oblique injury, some live batting practice.

Beachy will probably throw some batting practice Tuesday or Wednesday in Florida, and maybe one or two more before heading out on a minor league rehabilitation assignment.

Gonzalez, who watched Beachy’s bullpen Saturday, said he wants Beachy to throw at least three starts in the minor leagues to build his arm strength back up. That would put Beachy’s return from the disabled list to late June at the earliest.

Freeman using all fields

Just looking at the stats sheet, Freddie Freeman’s recent surge seemed to start with a hot weekend in his hometown of Anaheim playing in front of friends and family.

The rookie first baseman said it’s a change in his approach at the plate, not any desire to impress the home folks, that has gotten him on track.

“I finally got the swing going up through the middle,” Freeman said. “And when I do get fooled a little bit, I have room for error and I’m able to flare in a couple balls here and there.”

Beginning with a 2-for-5 performance in the middle game of the Angels series May 21, Freeman has hit .413 (19-for-46) in the past 11 games before Saturday, with seven doubles, a homer and seven RBIs. In the past week entering Saturday, he had gone 13-for-25 (.520) with five multi-hit efforts in six games. He raised his batting average from .243 to .276 in those six games.

Freeman said he could feel he had been pull-happy.

“When you can’t hit the ball to the opposite field in [batting practice] off 50 mph, you’ve got a problem,” Freeman said.

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8/26/17 - Atlanta, GA - Georgia leaders, including Gov. Nathan Deal, Sandra Deal, members of the King family, and Rep. Calvin Smyre,  were on hand for unveiling of the first statue of Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday at the statehouse grounds, more than three years after Gov. Nathan Deal first announced the project.  During the hour-long ceremony leading to the unveiling of the statue of Martin Luther King Jr. at the state Capitol on Monday, many speakers, including Gov. Nathan Deal, spoke of King's biography. The statue was unveiled on the anniversary of King's famed "I Have Dream" speech. BOB ANDRES  /BANDRES@AJC.COM

Credit: Bob Andres