Jones goes on disabled list

Did the Dodgers place Andruw Jones on the disabled list because of a knee that bothered him or a swing that pained them?

Officially, the struggling center fielder was sidelined Tuesday to make room for shortstop Nomar Garciaparra on the active roster because of patellar tendinitis in his left knee.

But the previous day, Manager Joe Torre said Jones was suffering from a sore right knee. And Jones looked fine Monday when he cleared a 3 1/2 -foot white fence while trying to catch a fly ball during batting practice.

“He said the problem was he was running to catch a ball and he was either going to run into it or jump over it,” said Torre, noting that he had confronted Jones about the play afterward.

“So he decided that to jump over it was probably less stressful for him.”

Trainer Stan Conte said similar knee soreness had plagued Jones throughout his 12-year career in Atlanta, though it never landed him on the disabled list with the Braves. Conte described Jones’ surgically repaired right knee as “awesome, perfect.”

Jones, hitting .161 with three home runs and 14 runs batted in in 205 at-bats, was unavailable for comment before the Dodgers played the Philadelphia Phillies at Dodger Stadium.

General Manager Ned Colletti said Jones told Torre that his knee was bothering him and that he didn’t think he could help the club.

“We’re at the stage now where we can’t play with 24 players for very long,” Colletti said.

Minor adjustments

Torre said Jones would rest for a few days before embarking on a rehabilitation assignment with triple-A Las Vegas at some point during the team’s current 13-game trip. Hitting instructor Jeff Pentland will accompany Jones to the minor leagues.

Might the Dodgers keep Jones in the minors beyond the time it takes his knee to heal so that he could work on his hitting woes?

“We’re hoping we have this opportunity to get him as close to being fixed as possible,” said Torre, who acknowledged that the Dodgers might have compounded Jones’ struggles by rushing him back from a rehab assignment last month when Juan Pierre went on the disabled list.

Torre moment

Torre took the blame for the misunderstanding Monday that prompted Manny Ramirez to head for the clubhouse instead of his spot in left field in the top of the ninth inning.

The manager said that after the end of the eighth he held out his fist as a way of congratulating Ramirez for his single earlier in the inning. Ramirez construed the gesture as a sign that he had been removed from the game, Torre said.

Pierre soon informed Torre that Ramirez had taken all his bats and retreated to the clubhouse, where he had begun to undress until Pierre and bench coach Bob Schaefer came to get him.

Ramirez hurried back to left field, buttoning his jersey along the way. He still seemed amused by it all a day later.

“Hey, when Joe Torre goes like this to you,” Ramirez jokingly said in the clubhouse before the game, waving his hand to backup catcher Danny Ardoin, “don’t listen to him.”

Short hops

Torre said he didn’t expect injured reliever Scott Proctor to return until after rosters expanded Sept. 1. . . . For sale in the Dodgers team stores: Ramirez lapel pins ($5) and a limited number of “Mannywood” T-shirts ($25) with the outfielder’s No. 99 alongside a silhouette of his dreadlocked head.

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ben.bolch@latimes.com