Chipper Jones to test knee in batting practice Tuesday

Chipper Jones will test his ailing right knee in batting practice tomorrow, reports Carroll Rogers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Jones was diagnosed with a torn meniscus yesterday and received a pair of cortisone shots. The veteran third baseman will undergo arthroscopic surgery if the knee doesn’t respond to the injections, which would mean roughly 2-3 weeks of recovery time.

“We’re just going to play it by ear from here on out,” said Jones, who had surgery for an ACL tear on his left knee last August. “If I have any more pain or it keeps me out of any more ball games, go clean it out. And if the injection works and I’m able to continue to play through it, I will.”

Jones, 39, is batting .275/.366/.465 with four home runs and 27 RBI over his first 164 plate appearances this season. While the Braves would surely miss his presence in the lineup if he required an extended absence, Martin Prado has made a couple fantastic defensive plays filling in for him at third base tonight, including this one. Somehow, I don’t think Larry -- or most third basemen in baseball, for that matter -- could pull that off.