Dodgers’ A.J. Ellis has successful knee surgery, out 4 to 6 weeks

Catcher A.J. Ellis had his scheduled knee surgery Tuesday, with the Dodgers reporting things went well in the cleanup procedure.

And now get ready for a lot of Drew Butera and, presumably, Tim Federowicz.

The Dodgers said Dr. Neal ElAttrache performed a 20-minute arthroscopic procedure to debride the medial meniscus of his left knee. Ellis is expected to be out four to six weeks.

Ellis also had arthroscopic surgery to clean up the medial and lateral meniscus in the same knee following the 2012 season.

A person familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity told The Times’ Dylan Hernandez that Ellis injured the knee when he planted his left leg rounding third in the seventh inning Saturday. Ellis was thrown out at the plate and completed the game, but did not start Sunday.

Butera, 30, started Sunday. He is known for his defensive ability but has only a .180 career batting average. Federowicz, the only other catcher on the 40-man roster, served as Ellis’ backup last season and is a career .227 hitter. He would have to be called up today from triple-A Albuquerque.

Anything the Dodgers got out of Ellis offensively was a bonus anyway, but the Dodgers will miss his leadership and work ethic. Ellis was batting only .167 (4 for 24) to start the season, but is a .254 lifetime hitter.

The Dodgers look particularly smart now for keeping Butera, who was out of options, and sending down Federowicz to start the season. If they had lost Butera on waivers, they would be looking at calling up Miguel Olivo.