When Manny Corpas broke Omar Infante’s hand with a pitch in the sixth inning of Wednesday night’s game, the Braves lost an important piece of their offense. Infante’s .349 average not only leads the club, but his work as a leadoff man this season has been awesome. In his 14 starts as a leadoff hitter this season, Infante is batting .393 (24 hits in 61 ABs) with 12 runs and 8 RBIs. Ridiculously, Infante has hit safely in all 14 starts and has an OBP of .456. Where would this Braves team be without Infante filling in for an ineffective Kelly Johnson earlier this season?

Infante’s absence will also be felt defensively. As a super-utility player, he has seen time at second base, third base, shortstop, center field, and left field so far this season. He has been the primary backup for Chipper Jones, Kelly Johnson, Yunel Escobar, and Jordan Shafer. Without Infante, the Braves currently have no viable option as a backup center fielder behind Schafer. Defensively challenged Matt Diaz replaced Schafer in center late in last night’s 9-0 blowout loss to Colorado. The other option would be to use Jeff Francoeur in center. Here’s hoping nothing happens to Schafer in the next 6-8 weeks while Infante is out, but Schafer can’t be expected to play every inning in all these games without a break. When the other outfielders are Garret Anderson, Jeff Francoeur, Matt Diaz, and pinch-hitter Greg Norton, the Braves just don’t have any legitimate backup to Schafer in center in Infante’s absence.

To complicate matter, Chipper Jones injured his foot in last night’s game by aggravating a bunion. He is listed as day-to-day, but I expect Martin Prado or Diory Hernandez to start in his place tonight against Roy Halladay.