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Of all the series to start the season, I think Braves‘ second baseman Dan Uggla and new Manager Fredi Gonzalez probably looked for and circled this one first. Both had spent several years with the Florida Marlins before ending up in Atlanta this offseason.

Gonzalez was fired as the Marlins‘ manager during the 2010 season. He was hired as the successor to Bobby Cox one day after the Braves season ended in the divisional round loss to the San Francisco Giants.

Dan Uggla put up record-setting numbers as the second bagger with Florida, becoming the first second baseman in baseball history to hit at least 30 home runs in four straight seasons. He’s gotten off to a slow start this year but has already hit two homers for the Braves, the second of which was the eventual game winner against the Milwaukee Brewers.

This is an important early-season series for the two teams, so we will be looking at what they have done so far, who the key players are and what to expect from the two division rivals.

Editor’s Note: Starters are projected by ESPN.com.

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Last night Chipper Jones continued his hot start to his 18th major league season by going 2-4 with a double and a single, including three RBI. His second hit was also Jones’ 2,500th of his career, adding another stat to his Hall of Fame career.

Jones has been considered one of the best switch-hitters of all time. I agree with this, and think that he is at worst the third best of all time, but could he be even higher? Statistically speaking anyway? Time to find out.

I am matching him up with Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray, two of the greatest players in baseball history. We’ll be looking at the trio’s 162-game averages as well as their career marks in the statistics given. The numbers speak for themselves as far as Jones’ career goes.

Without further ado, let’s get this started.

Editor’s Note: Jones’ current 2011 numbers are added to his totals.

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There were some unhappy people whenever it was announced that Brandon Beachy had beaten out Mike Minor for the Atlanta Braves‘ fifth and final starting spot in the rotation. Many were upset because of the upside that Minor brings and the fact that he is a lefty and would have balanced out a rotation that now has five righties in it.

Beachy quietly went about his business and made his first start of the season against the Milwaukee Brewers today, ending up with a no decision despite only giving up one run in six innings of work.

Beachy held a lineup that has been known for its balance of speed and power in recent years to only four hits, one of which being a home run on one of the few mistakes thrown by the right-hander. He also struck out seven and only allowed one walk.

He was masterful throughout the game, as 61 of his 88 pitches thrown were strikes. He hit 95 in the fifth inning and at one point recorded nine consecutive outs.

Beachy’s next start is scheduled to be against the division foe and hated rival Philadelphia Phillies on April 9, a game that will show whether this first game is going to be a constant or a fluke.

All signs point to Beachy being a productive back-of-the-rotation guy as he made three starts late in the 2010 season, throwing 15 innings while putting together an ERA of 3.00 with 15 strikeouts and seven walks.

He doesn’t project as a future ace, but so far in his very early major league career, Beachy is looking a lot better than what most people were expecting him to be.

The Braves were unable to score a run while Beachy was on the mound, but took a 2-1 lead in the top of the eighth inning when Martin Prado and Dan Uggla both hit solo home runs. They would hold on to get the win and continue a strong start to the season. Their record currently stands at 3-1.

Making the decision to put Beachy in the rotation worked out well in his first game, and while Minor is scheduled to pitch for the injured Jair Jurrjens, Beachy looks like he wants to keep the spot the whole year. 

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Jason Heyward started his Major League Baseball journey on Opening Day in 2010 with a home run on his first swing—at the age of 20.

He went on to have one of the better rookie years in recent memory, including ending up with the fourth highest on-base percentage (.393) in the National League.

Freddie Freeman’s journey will really begin (he was called up last September) this year, as he will be the team’s first baseman barring a catastrophe in spring training. He ripped up AAA last year and will look to continue his dominance with his best friend for the next 15 years in Atlanta.

The two were best friends, having been drafted in the same year for the Braves, and rose through the minors together until Heyward broke through last year. Being best friends won’t bring up any Barry Bonds-Jeff Kent moments up between the two.

These two both have great potential to do big things at the plate and on the field, while both being great people as well.

Here are 10 reasons while the two 21-year-olds will form the best duo in all of baseball going forward.

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Just about every MLB team has a young guy with enormous potential. These guys can be all types of players, from pitchers to position players, center fielders with speed and first basemen that rely on power, pitchers with power arms or those known for their control.

Some of these players will play the vast majority of their career playing for their current team and living up to their potential, while others won’t and will be guys that move all around the major leagues.

All of the guys on this list will have a few things in common.

One, they will all be 25 years old or under.

Two, I believe they will play for their current teams for awhile (or most anyway) and will produce for them at a good rate for years to come.

So, let’s get on with the list.

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Chipper Jones is an all-time Brave. He’s been through the best times that the franchise has ever had and the recent struggles to make it to the postseason up until 2010. He’s won a World Series Championship and many division titles.

He’s been a Most Valuable Player and he’s posted extremely good numbers throughout his career.

The problem now, though, is that Jones will be 39 years-old in April and has seen a huge decline in his numbers since he hit .364 in 2008. He’s had his power taken away his average has fallen off drastically.

Jones is entering his 16th full season in the big leagues and knows his way around the league. It could be his last season putting on a baseball uniform, which means it may also be our last chance to see a living legend.

It doesn’t all have to be sad though, because Jones still brings a lot to the table.

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Freddie Freeman is the Braves’ top offensive prospect and a guy who the team will be depending on at one of baseball’s most important offensive positions.

Freeman is all but a lock to be the Braves’ first baseman and should end up producing at a very good level even this year. He may not reach Jason Heyward’s success from a year ago, but don’t be shocked if Freeman wins the Rookie of the Year award or finishes very close to doing it.

Freeman is already a good defensive first baseman and a guy who could progress into a Gold Glove-caliber defender at some point in his career. Because of this the focus of this slideshow is to look at some guys I think Freeman can become on the offensive side, regardless of the position that they play.

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The addition of Dan Uggla was the biggest move for the Atlanta Braves this offseason. Uggla has shown great power during his time in the majors, as has hit 154 homers in five seasons, which comes out to an average of 30.8 homers per year. He has also racked up 465 RBIs during his career at an average of 93 a season.

The Braves may have picked Uggla up at the height of his career, as he had his best year to date in 2010, hitting career highs in average (.287), homers(33), and RBIs (105) among others, and will be just 31 when the season starts.

Uggla may be the key to the Braves’ season, as he is hoping to provide them the power they have so desperately needed, especially from the right side. Here are 10 reasons why Uggla could go from the Braves’ MVP to the National League’s MVP.

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When the Atlanta Braves traded for shortstop Alex Gonzalez on July 14^th last year, he was hitting .259 with 17 homers and 50 RBIs for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Most Braves’ fans thought moving on from Yunel Escobar, a guy who rarely hit for any power, to a guy that was hitting homeruns at a career pace was a great move.

Gonzalez’s year took a downturn after the trade, however, as he hit just .240 with 6 homers and 38 RBIs the rest of the way for the Braves.

Gonzalez comes into this year with hardly any talk surrounding him, but he may be the Braves’ most important player this season.

Gonzalez has been regarded around the league as a plus defensive shortstop who is average at the plate. Gonzalez is on a cycle of hitting good one year then following it up with a subpar offensive year the next.

The Braves can’t have that this year.

Gonzalez is THE shortstop for the Braves, who don’t have a guy that is quite ready to be an everyday player at the major league level behind him. This puts a lot of pressure on Gonzalez to play more like the one suiting up for the Toronto Blue Jays than the one for the Atlanta Braves.

Gonzalez is likely to hit sixth or seventh, so he is important in the fact the he has to protect Dan Uggla or Brian McCann, depending on who is hitting in front of him. Gonzalez should be getting good pitches to hit, and he will need to take advantage of it.

Whether he hits well or not, Gonzalez is going to play good defense and be a great teammate. That alone is an improvement over Escobar as we look back into the 2010 season. Escobar was a bit too flamboyant for his teammates, while also seeming lackadaisical at times when they were losing or he made a mistake.

You won’t be seeing that from Gonzalez, who has always been a guy proud of his defense and is a team-player.

A Gonzalez line of .260-12-65 would be great for the Braves with his defense, and anything above that would be a plus.

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Craig Kimbrel took Braves Nation by storm in his first stint with the Braves in 2010, and looks to be the closer going forward in 2011.

Kimbrel, 22, possesses great closer-like stuff. An upper-90s fastball to go along with a plus slider, and Kimbrel has all the potential in the world to be a perennial All-Star as a closer. He’s been a top prospect for the Braves the last few years, and 2011 could very well be his breakout year.

In 21 appearances at the major league level in 2010, Kimbrel piled up an astounding 0.44 earned run average. Opposing batters only hit .125 against him, and he picked up 40 strikeouts in 20.2 innings pitched. Those are the numbers of a hard-throwing closer, making it look even more apparent that he will be successful both in 2011 and beyond.

His one problem though, was his inability to consistently throw strikes. Kimbrel walked 16 batters in those 20.2 innings, a number way too high if he is to be dominant in 2011. In three minor league seasons, Kimbrel walked 95 batters in 151 innings, that’s 0.6 walks per inning. If walks start stringing together, big innings and blown saves tend to happen.

Kimbrel hasn’t had much problem giving up runs though, even with those walks. His minor league career ERA of 1.85 was plenty good enough, and shows that even with walks, his stuff is dominant enough to get him out of any jams he puts himself in.

Kimbrel will likely get to fill the shoes of possible future Hall of Famer Billy Wagner, who recorded 37 saves with a 1.43 ERA in his final season. They have very comparative stuff, with Wager throwing left-handed and Kimbrel throwing right-handed. It won’t be an easy job for whoever is given the job to close games for the Braves this year, but Kimbrel never got fazed at any point during the regular season or postseason, where he only gave up one hit in 4.1 innings of work, while also striking out seven of the 13 batters he faced.

Bill James has predicted that Kimbrel will go through the 2011 season as the Braves closer, saying he will pick up 25 saves and end the year with a 2.57 ERA. Seems to be a fair prediction, and one most Braves fans will probably love to have.

The only apparent setback for Kimbrel is his inconsistency in hitting the strike zone, and with some extra work during spring training with pitching coach Roger McDowell that should start to take a downturn going forward. Kimbrel has always had the potential to be a closer and 2011 will be his first chance to show he can actually do it.

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