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• Paul Lukas has his annual new uniform review. We all know about the Marlins' makeover, but there many others changes, patches and throwbacks to check out.
• How often do Opening Day lineups turn over? Diane Firstman, with help from Baseball-Reference.com, has a couple fascinating charts that show how rapidly teams do go through players.
• Here's the daily roundup from You Can't Predict Baseball. They do this every day, and it's full of interesting tidbits.
• Jerry Crasnick reports on a positive start to 2012 for Stephen Strasburg.
• It was a big win for the Tigers, even if Justin Verlander didn't get the win. And Miguel Cabrera actually caught a foul pop fly!
• Stephanie Lisco is already losing faith in the Indians after the 16-inning debacle.
• Bill Baer breaks down Roy Halladay's Opening Day gem. Halladay's Game Score of 83 was the best of his 10 career Opening Day starts.
• Kerry Wood might have been squeezed by the umpire, but it was still a tough loss for the Cubs.
• Tommy Hanson slightly altered his mechanics this spring, and Ben Duronio examines how Hanson's release point in Thursday's opener compared to 2011.
• The Dodgers won despite Clayton Kershaw leaving early with a case of the flu.
• Tim Lincecum starts tonight. Last year, he threw more sliders than ever, but ditched the pitch in spring training and has said he won't use it early in the season. Chris Quick with a look at what to expect from Lincecum and the Giants on Opening Day.
• So Michael Pineda wasn't throwing hard? Jon Shields writes about another pitcher with diminished velocity so far: Felix Hernandez. With much less hype, King Felix has been hovering at 90 mph with his fastball -- including during the season opener in Japan. Hernandez starts again on Saturday.
• Will Albert Pujols begin his season with a Royal conquest?
• What is the perfect Josh Hamilton contract? Prashanth Francis examines a question that will hover over the Rangers all season.
• Ryan Topp with five ways the Brewers can squeeze a few wins out of their roster.
• Which team can be this year's Arizona Diamondbacks? ESPN Insider Ben Lindbergh points to the Royals, Mariners and Pirates as the best possibilities.
• Dan Szymborski has his list of the five worst roster decisions, including the Nationals going with Ross Detwiler in the rotation.
• It was Opening Day in the minors as well. Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus has a roundup. (Bryce Harper went 2-for-4 in his Triple-A debut, with a double and stolen base.)

With the way 2011 ended for the Atlanta Braves, many hoped a good start in spring training would put any thoughts about last season behind them. At the start of camp, however, Tommy Hanson crashed his car and received a concussion. That was certainly not a good omen, to say the least.

Then Tyler Pastornicky, the expected starting shortstop, started 3-for-33, sparking questions about whether he or last season’s Lynchburg Hillcat (Atlanta's high-A affiliate) shortstop Andrelton Simmons should start at shortstop. A week ago, Chipper Jones stated in jest that he was unsure if he could even finish the season, and then Thursday announced that he'll retire at the end of the season. Additionally, the team is 6-13 in the Grapefruit League, ahead of only the Mets. Spring training records do not mean much, if anything, but the Braves have most certainly not played quality baseball.

On Tuesday, the worst news of the spring hit the Braves as Arodys Vizcaino, the 14th-ranked prospect in baseball according to Keith Law, will miss the entire season with Tommy John surgery. Vizcaino was projected to pitch in the Braves’ bullpen and was expected to help ease the workload of the team’s back-end relievers.

Not much has gone right, but there are still reasons to be optimistic. With Mike Minor and Brandon Beachy ready to break out and Julio Teheran and Randall Delgado not far behind them, the Braves still have a strong core of young starting pitchers who are major league ready. With Tim Hudson already being ruled out until the start of May and Hanson and Jair Jurrjens attempting to rebound from last year’s season-ending injuries, the depth in the rotation is the team’s biggest strength and should come in handy over the course of the season.

Although Vizcaino will miss the year, swingman Kris Medlen should bolster what was already one of the game’s top bullpens. His ability to eat innings, along with fellow bullpen mate Cristhian Martinez, should lessen the workload on Craig Kimbrel, Jonny Venters and Eric O’Flaherty. The bullpen should again be stellar.

While the pitching should remain sturdy, the big questions in Braves camp revolve around the bats. Jason Heyward and Martin Prado had sub-standard years and will look to rebound, while Brian McCann and Dan Uggla try to stay consistent throughout the season. Heyward has altered both his swing and stance, and he has really started to swing the bat well over the past two weeks. Prado and Uggla have both looked tremendous all spring.

The basic assumption the front office has made, judging by their lack of acquisitions, is that they doubt things go as bad for the offense in 2012 as they did last year. Having Michael Bourn in center field for the entire season should stabilize the top of the lineup and result in improved production compared to what the Braves received from Nate McLouth, Jordan Schafer and Bourn during his few months with the team.

With all that went bad toward the end of last year, this team still won 89 games and would have made the playoffs if this season’s playoff format had been in place. They have a ton of pitching depth and have one of the best bullpens in the league. While they do not have a tremendous offense and will likely struggle with their infield defense, they do have the tools to score runs and prevent runs at a better than average rate. As bad as this spring has been, the Braves are still one of the better teams in the National League and should certainly be in competition for a playoff spot, which is all you can really ask for in a crowded NL East.

Ben Duronio writes regularly about the Braves at Capitol Avenue Club. You can follow him on Twitter @Ben_Duronio.

This is back-of-the-napkin stuff ... but fun back-of-the-napkin stuff. As we wait to see if Prince Fielder does land in Washington, let's check out the state of the NL East. We'll go position by position and rank the players. Then we'll come up with a final tally (five points for first, four for second, etc.)

Catcher
1. Brian McCann, Braves
2. Wilson Ramos, Nationals
3. Carlos Ruiz, Phillies
4. Josh Thole, Mets
5. John Buck, Marlins

Phillies fans will storm the bastille over this one and say I'm underestimating Ruiz's ability to call a game, but I think Wilson Ramos has a chance to be something special. He hit .267/.334/.445 as a rookie, spending most of the season at just 23 years old. The thing that bodes well is that his walk rate improved from 4 percent in Triple-A in 2010 to 8.7 percent last season. And to think they got him from the Twins for Matt Capps. Ruiz is an underrated player -- he's posted a .376 OBP the past three seasons -- but Ramos' power and potential for improvement put him at No. 2 behind McCann.

First base
1. Freddie Freeman, Braves
2. Ryan Howard/Jim Thome, Phillies
3. Ike Davis, Mets
4. Gaby Sanchez, Marlins
5. Adam LaRoche, Nationals

Yes, there's huge value for the Nationals in signing Prince Fielder. With Davis and LaRoche coming off serious injuries and Howard out for at least a couple months, I have to give the top nod to Freeman. Sure, maybe he'll succumb to the dreaded sophomore jinx, but baseball history also tells us that players often make a huge leap from age 21 to age 22. If Davis hits like he did in the 36 games he played last year (.302/.383/.543) then he's an All-Star candidate, but while he says he's "good to go" for spring training, we'll have to wait to see how his ankle responds. As for Sanchez, he's a lukewarm cup of coffee on a 32-degree day.

Second base
1. Chase Utley, Phillies
2. Danny Espinosa, Nationals
3. Dan Uggla, Braves
4. Daniel Murphy, Mets
5. Omar Infante, Marlins

I put Utley first with some hesitation: His OPS totals since 2007 read .976, .915, .905, .832 and .769. Still, that .769 figure is better than Uggla or Espinosa produced in 2011, and Utley still carries a good glove. It's defense and predicted second-season improvement that pushes Espinosa over Uggla. Murphy doesn't hit many home runs or draw many walks, so most of his offensive value resides in his batting average. If he hits .320 again, he's a good player. If he hits .290, then he's still better than Infante.

Third base
1. Ryan Zimmerman, Nationals
2. David Wright, Mets
3. Hanley Ramirez, Marlins
4. Chipper Jones, Braves
5. Placido Polanco, Phillies

If healthy, Zimmerman is one of the best players in the league. Ramirez and Wright were once part of that discussion, but no longer. Both players had the worst years of their careers in 2011. Will Wright rebound with the fences moved in at Citi Field? Will Ramirez bounce back and handle the transition to third base? Your guess is as good as mine. Chipper is aging gracefully, playing through injuries but still putting up respectable numbers. If this is his last season, I hope he goes out in style.

Shortstop
1. Jose Reyes, Marlins
2. Jimmy Rollins, Phillies
3. Ruben Tejada, Mets
4. Ian Desmond, Nationals
5. Tyler Pastornicky, Braves

Not much debate here. Tejada posted a .360 OBP in 2011 as a 21-year-old. He doesn't have any power, but I believe the Mets are in good hands at shortstop. The same can't be said about Desmond, who must improve his defense (23 errors) and approach at the plate (139/35 SO/BB ratio). Pastornicky hit .314 in the minors last year, including .365 in 27 games in Triple-A. He puts the ball in play and has some speed, but won't hit for much power or draw many walks, so he'll need to hit for a good average to hold the job.

Left field
1. Michael Morse, Nationals
2. Martin Prado, Braves
3. Logan Morrison, Marlins
4. Domonic Brown/John Mayberry, Phillies
5. Jason Bay, Mets

We have to consider Morse the real deal by now, don't we? Although he comes with a few caveats: That 126/36 SO/BB ratio is a concern; so is his .344 average on balls in play, which ranked 15th in the majors (can he repeat that figure?); and finally, he plays left field a bit like a fire hydrant. By the way, how bad is this group defensively? Morrison may have even less range than Morse, Brown looked terrible in right field with the Phillies last year and Bay isn't getting paid $16 million because he's adept at running down balls in the gap. Actually, I'm not sure what he's getting paid for.

Center field
1. Shane Victorino, Phillies
2. Michael Bourn, Braves
3. Emilio Bonifacio, Marlins
4. Andres Torres, Mets
5. Roger Bernadina, Nationals

This seems pretty straightforward other than the ongoing raging debate between Andres Torres fans and Roger Bernadina fans.

Right field
1. Mike Stanton, Marlins
2. Hunter Pence, Phillies
3. Jason Heyward, Braves
4. Jayson Werth, Nationals
5. Lucas Duda, Mets

Mike Stanton ... 2012 National League MVP? Too soon? I'm just saying don't be surprised if it happens.

No. 1 starter
1. Roy Halladay, Phillies
2. Josh Johnson, Marlins
3. Stephen Strasburg, Nationals
4. Tim Hudson, Braves
5. Johan Santana, Mets

Is there a more important player in the majors in 2012 than Johnson? The Marlins fancy themselves contenders but they need a healthy Johnson headlining the rotation. After leading the NL with a 2.30 ERA in 2010, he had posted a 1.64 ERA through 10 starts in 2011 before shoulder tendinitis shelved him for the season. He's been throwing and long tossing and is expected to be 100 percent for spring training. Strasburg has the ability to be just as dominant as Halladay and Johnson, but the Nationals will likely monitor his innings in his first full season back from Tommy John surgery.

No. 2 starter
1. Cliff Lee, Phillies
2. Gio Gonzalez, Nationals
3. Mark Buehrle, Marlins
4. Tommy Hanson, Braves
5. R.A. Dickey, Mets

This is a terrific group of No. 2 starters, as even the knuckleballer Dickey posted a 3.28 ERA in 2011 (and 3.08 ERA over the past two seasons). Hanson has Cy Young ability, but his own shoulder issues from late last season raise a red flag.

No. 3 starter
1. Cole Hamels, Phillies
2. Jordan Zimmermann, Nationals
3. Anibal Sanchez, Marlins
4. Jair Jurrjens, Braves
5. Mike Pelfrey, Mets

Zimmermann is the sleeping giant in the Nationals rotation. His strikeout/walk ratio of 4.0 ranked 11th-best among starters in 2011 and another year beyond his own TJ surgery should help him develop the stamina to improve on his second-half numbers (2.66 ERA before the All-Star break, 4.47 after). I'm not a big Jurrjens fan; he's a good pitcher, but he's now battled injuries two seasons in a row and his strikeout rate took a big dip last season.

No. 4 starter
1. Brandon Beachy, Braves
2. Vance Worley, Phillies
3. John Lannan, Nationals
4. Jonathon Niese, Mets
5. Ricky Nolasco, Marlins

You could draw this list out of a hat. Beachy and Worley surprised many with their exceptional rookie seasons; I believe both are for real, as both seemed to deliver better-than-advertised fastballs. Now they just have to prove they can become seven-inning pitchers instead of five or six. Niese is an excellent breakout candidate in 2012: He throws hard enough for a lefty (90-91), gets strikeouts, doesn't walk too many, gets groundballs. In fact, his FIP (fielding independent pitching) was 3.36 compared to his actual ERA of 4.40. It wouldn't surprise me to see him win 15 games with a 3.40 ERA. It would surprise me if Nolasco does that; 2008 is starting to look further and further in the rear-view mirror.

No. 5 starter
1. Mike Minor, Braves
2. Carlos Zambrano, Marlins
3. Dillon Gee, Mets
4. Chien-Ming Wang, Nationals
5. Joe Blanton/Kyle Kendrick, Phillies

If you're talking depth, the big edge here goes to the Braves, who also have prospects Julio Teheran, Randall Delgado and Arodys Vizcaino ready to step in. Big Z is a nice gamble by the Marlins as a No. 5 starter, you could do worse.

Closer
1. Craig Kimbrel, Braves
2. Jonathan Papelbon, Phillies
3. Drew Storen, Nationals
4. Heath Bell, Marlins
5. Frank Francisco, Mets

As dominant as Kimbrel was in winning Rookie of the Year honors (14.8 K's per nine), he did blow eight saves. But Papelbon is just one season removed from his own season of eight blown saves. Factor in Kimbrel's K rate and slightly heavier workload, and I'll give him the slight nod. Bell will have to prove himself away from the friendly confines of Petco Park, so Storen rates the clear No. 3 here.

Bullpen
1. Braves -- Jonny Venters, Eric O'Flaherty, Kris Medlen, Cristhian Martinez, Anthony Varvaro
2. Marlins -- Steve Cishek, Edward Mujica, Mike Dunn, Ryan Webb, Randy Choate
3. Nationals -- Tyler Clippard, Sean Burnett, Henry Rodriguez, Ryan Perry, Tom Gorzelanny
4. Phillies -- Antonio Bastardo, Michael Stutes, Dontrelle Willis, David Herndon, Jose Contreras
5. Mets -- Bobby Parnell, Jon Rauch, Pedro Beato, Tim Byrdak, Manny Acosta

The top four teams all project to have solid-to-excellent pens. Venters and Clippard are arguably the two best set-up guys in baseball. Cishek is the rare sidearmer who can get lefties out as well as righties and he allowed just one home run in 54 innings as a rookie. The Phillies don't need many innings from their pen and while Willis could be a terrific lefty killer (lefties hit .127 off him in 2011), Bastardo must rebound from his late-season fatigue.

Intangibles
1. Marlins
2. Phillies
3. Braves
4. Nationals
5. Mets

New stadium, new free agents, new manager, new uniforms -- I view all of that as a plus for the Marlins. The playoffs left a sour taste for the Phillies' veteran-heavy squad and those guys will want nothing more than to win a sixth straight division title. The Braves have plenty of incentive after their late-season collapse. The Nationals are young but have no chip on their shoulder. But if they sign Prince ...

The final tally
1. Phillies, 58 points
2. Braves, 56 points
3. Marlins, 49 points
4. Nationals, 48 points
5. Mets, 29 points

And the napkin says the Phillies are still the division favorite. What, you want to bet against Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels?

It's been a rough year for Dan Uggla. After being traded from the Marlins to the Braves and signing a shiny new extension, he has struggled to live up to expectations so far, hitting just .193/.265/.380 (BA/OBP/SLG) entering play Friday night. Add in his customarily questionable defense around the keystone, and Uggla has been below replacement level thus far in 2011.

But it was all smiles in Cincinnati after Friday’s game, as Uggla came up as a pinch-hitter with two outs in the eighth inning and delivered a two-run homer off the Reds’ Nick Masset to give the Braves the lead for good in a back-and-forth game that included seven total home runs, three by each team before Uggla’s decisive blow.

For the Reds, this was a must-win game to sustain any chance of eventually winning the wild card. Entering the game, the Braves had a 9 1/2-game lead on the Reds in the standings, so Cincinnati needed a sweep to have any realistic chance of catching up any time soon. At this point, catching up is all but impossible, meaning the Reds will need to overcome the Brewers, Pirates and Cardinals to win the National League Central if they want to participate in the postseason again.

For the Braves, it was another win on another day for arguably the least talked-about good team in baseball. Entering play the Braves boasted the NL's second-best record and second-best run differential. Unfortunately, they trail division rival Philadelphia in both of those counts and remain four games out of first place in the NL East. Being overshadowed by the Phillies is probably part of the reason few people seem to have noticed the Braves are nevertheless having an excellent season, but that's no reason to overlook this Braves team.

The Braves’ unquestioned strength is their pitching staff, which on the whole is the best in the NL. The Braves' starters rank third in the league in FIP behind the Phillies and Giants, but their bullpen ranks first, while the Phillies’ bullpen ranks 13th (and 14th in xFIP). And they're not lacking for high-end talent, either. Jair Jurrjens, Tommy Hanson, Tim Hudson and Derek Lowe all have fWARs of at least 2.0 so far. With an ERA of 2.26, Jurrjens likely would win some Cy Young votes if the season ended today. In the bullpen, Craig Kimbrel and Jonny Venters are two of the four most valuable relievers in the NL.

On the other hand, the Braves certainly could stand to improve themselves offensively. They were 11th in the NL in wOBA entering Friday, and their positional players as a whole also were just 11th in the league in fWAR. To that end, the Braves have been heavily linked to Carlos Beltran in recent trade rumors, as well as lesser outfielders such as Coco Crisp, Jeff Francoeur and Jonny Gomes. Some of those names make more sense than others, but taken together, they paint a clear picture of a team aggressively seeking to improve its offense before the deadline.

If there's a reason for the Braves to worry about a potential bump in the road to October, it might actually be Jurrjens. Beyond the nifty ERA and 12-3 record, make no mistake, Jurrjens is a pitcher dramatically outperforming his peripherals. Although he doesn't walk many batters, he also doesn't strike out many (5.5 K/9), and although his home run rate is certainly fantastic at 0.39 HR/9 (not too far below his career 0.65 rate), it's built on a HR/FB rate of 4.1 percent, which is probably unsustainable. If that weren't enough, Jurrjens is somehow doing all this while allowing a career-high number of line drives against him (although the fact that most of those line drives appear to be coming at the expense of the number of fly balls he's allowing could mean there is a healthy dose of classification error in those numbers).

But for now, Jurrjens is getting the job done, and the Braves currently look like a strong bet to make the playoffs, with a five-game lead in the loss column over their nearest wild-card rival. And if they do manage to add a bat as significant as Beltran’s or otherwise find some offense to go with their deep pitching staff, the Braves are a team you might not want to overlook down the stretch and into the postseason.

PHOTO OF THE DAY
Brien Jackson is a contributor and editor at It's About the Money, Stupid!, an ESPN Sweetspot Network affiliate. You can follow Brien on Twitter, and follow IIATMS on Twitter and Facebook.

Sixty-six All-Stars were announced Sunday and somehow they still messed it up. Here are my five biggest All-Star snubs.

1. Andrew McCutchen, CF, Pirates. I figured he was a lock for the team, but Bruce Bochy was put into a bit of a bind when the players voted in Jay Bruce as one of the three outfield reserves in the NL (along with Hunter Pence and Matt Holliday). Justin Upton was added as the deserving lone representative of the Diamondbacks, but Bochy selected Carlos Beltran over McCutchen, even though McCutchen has a higher average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, more steals and plays a superior center field as opposed to a mediocre right field. I can only guess Bochy viewed this as an opportunity to talk with Beltran and persuade him to drop his no-trade clause if the Giants attempt to trade for him.

(And, no, Bruce is not better than McCutchen. Bruce has more home runs, but is hitting .230 with a .314 OBP on the road.)

2. CC Sabathia, P, Yankees. He's scheduled to start the Sunday before the All-Star Game, so would have been replaced on the roster anyway, but he deserved the honor of making the squad. Manager Ron Washington could have resolved the CC situation in one of two easy ways: Pick him over Tigers closer Jose Valverde (very mediocre numbers for a closer) or Rangers pitcher C.J. Wilson (whom I think is a deserving All-Star).

3. Tommy Hanson, P, Braves. Bochy had four roster spots for pitchers and picked Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain (no issues there, even if they are his own guys), Nationals reliever Tyler Clippard (the lone Nats rep and having a dominating year in middle relief) and ... Ryan Vogelsong, a journeyman right-hander who had been out of the majors for four seasons. Look, Vogelsong's story is one of the best of the season. His numbers are excellent (6-1, 2.09), but you can't pick Lincecum and Cain and a guy who has had 12 good starts with no previous track record of success. Bochy said Vogelsong will be his emergency long man in case the game goes extra innings, so he's unlikely to get into the game, but it was still an odd selection over Hanson, Ian Kennedy, Jhoulys Chacin or Shaun Marcum.

4. Jhonny Peralta, SS, Tigers. The fans did a terrific job voting in the starters this season. Really, the only debatable selection was Derek Jeter, and can you really fault the fans for voting in one of the greatest players of all time over a group of shortstops who, while having excellent seasons, don't have a long track record of excellence? Trouble is, there was no way to squeeze Peralta on the roster. With two DHs, it's hard for Washington to slot deserving bench players, since he had to pick Michael Cuddyer and Matt Wieters to represent the Twins and Orioles.

5. Shane Victorino, CF, Phillies. I wrote the other day that it would be difficult to find room for him on the roster, and since I slot him slightly behind McCutchen in the pecking order, I'm having trouble squeezing him on the roster. If you give the Beltran slot to McCutchen, where does Victorino fit? Gaby Sanchez is the lone Marlins rep, but you could give his slot to Anibal Sanchez (replacing Vogelsong or Cain) and find room for Victorino.

Anyway, both managers did about as well as they could. Bochy made one major gaffe in logic (Beltran over McCutchen) while Washington had better options than Jose Valverde. Considering the managers got hamstrung by the players voting in Russell Martin, Michael Young, Carlos Quentin and Bruce, it makes it tough to fill out the roster.

(FYI, five pitchers are scheduled to start next Sunday and will have to be replaced by rule: Sabathia, Felix Hernandez, James Shields, Cole Hamels and Cain.)

Finally, my nominees for the five players in each league for the "extra man" vote:

American League: CC Sabathia, P, Yankees; Jhonny Peralta, SS, Tigers; Paul Konerko, 1B, White Sox; Ben Zobrist, 2B, Rays; Dustin Pedroia, 2B, Red Sox.

National League: Andrew McCutchen, CF, Pirates; Tommy Hanson, P, Braves; Shane Victorino, CF, Phillies; Danny Espinosa, 2B, Nationals; Ian Kennedy, P, Diamondbacks.

P.S.: Can we get rid of the rule that says the players have to vote in three relievers? Chris Perez? Brandon League? Ugh.

Update: The players voted in Michael Young as the BACKUP designated hitter. Yes, somebody apparently believes it's necessary to have two DHs on the AL roster by rule, so my mistake in originally blaming Ron Washington for that selection. (Sorry, Ron.) Actually, Washington did basically what he could, especially since he knew CC was pitching Sunday anyway, so he wanted to make sure he got C.J. Wilson and David Price on the team. Really, this whole system is a joke. You can't have a game that MATTERS, and yet have a system in selecting rosters that's completely absurd. In the end, the only guy in my book with an All-Star beef worth caring about is Andrew McCutchen, who wasn't even named as one of the "Final Vote" candidates in the NL.

For Tommy Hanson, winning in the big leagues might have seemed somewhat easy at the start of his career. When he came up as a 22-year-old rookie in June 2009, the highly touted prospect delivered on his promise by collecting 11 wins in his first 21 starts, against just four losses. He collected his first big league victory in his second start in what you might term a “cheap” win, in that he didn’t get through six innings, getting away with just two runs allowed while giving up 14 baserunners in 5 2/3 innings. The team's bullpen and offense picked him up, and the Braves beat the Orioles 7-2.

A win’s a win, but almost two years later Hanson’s victory over the Marlins on Tuesday serves as a reminder that there has been nothing cheap about Hanson’s victories since that rookie campaign. Hanson’s 17-15 record in 2010-2011 might make it seem as though he’s merely been a placeholder in the Braves’ rotation, but nothing could be further from the truth. Marlins rookie Brad Hand threw an excellent game in his debut, his lone mistake an inside fastball that Alex Gonzalez got around on and jacked into the left-field seats to lead off the fourth inning. As it turned out, that would be the only run the Braves needed.

Hanson pitched six shutout innings to get his seventh win of the season, that in his seventh quality start. Hanson has won all seven -- simply put, anything less than a quality start, and Hanson has nothing to show for it so far. That may sound like a hard circumstance, but he has been here before: Hanson got his first eight wins in his first eight quality starts in 2010. It’s what came after that last season which has made it seem as though Hanson has been anything less than outstanding. After going eight-for-eight, Hanson had to settle for one win, three losses and seven no-decisions in his final 11 quality starts.

In a microcosm, Hanson’s quality spin Tuesday provided the reasons why. It goes back to the how and why of his first win -- like any well-managed young pitcher, he gets pulled before his pitch counts pile up too far beyond 100. In 2009, when Hanson was 22, he pitched into the seventh inning or later just 10 times in 21 starts. In 2010, he got into the seventh or later just 14 times in 34 starts. This year, in his age 24 season, he’s done so in just four of his first 13 starts.

That isn’t about a quick hook, not from Bobby Cox or now from Fredi Gonzalez. Instead, that’s the nature of careful management of a quality arm as he matures. In the meantime, more often than not, Hanson is pitching two-thirds of the game or less -- which makes generating wins a tough proposition without great run support (like he got in his first win and first season), as well as great relief help.

This year he’s as carefully managed as ever, and Hanson’s getting the worst run support of his brief career. After Tuesday’s 1-0 win, a quick envelope calculation says that he’s getting just 3.7 runs of support per 27 outs, against the 5.0 he got as a rookie or the 4.2 he received last season. But he is getting a boost from the other unit that can turn a good start from Hanson into a win in the standings: the Braves’ bullpen.

Hanson has a power trio to make his good work stand up: lefties Eric O’Flaherty and Jonny Venters, and closer Craig Kimbrel, a righty. O’Flaherty, Venters and Kimbrel have provided the Braves’ game-winning script for the final three frames this season, a major change from last year; only Venters is reprising anything like the role he had on Cox’s watch.

All three relievers rank among the league leaders in appearances, and all three are almost entirely reserved for pitching with the lead. Instead of strictly situational roles defined by pursuing platoon advantages, Gonzalez’s bullpen has its roles defined by the score: If the Braves lead after six, the trio pitches. It’s the older pitchers who are assigned the less significant roles -- 30-somethings Scott Linebrink and George Sherrill generally pitch when the Braves are down by a little, and veteran Cristhian Martinez when they’re down by a lot.

Combined, the three older men have pitched to protect a lead just nine times in 63 appearances, and 11 tie games. The kids? They’ve been entrusted with 56 leads and 22 ties, and with a combined 1.61 runs allowed per nine while stranding 18 of 23 inherited runners, they’re making those leads stand up as wins -- including Hanson’s.

PHOTO OF THE DAY
Christina Kahrl covers baseball for ESPN.com. You can follow her on Twitter.

OK, we had so much fun with the first round of the mock "franchise player draft" that we decided to conduct a second round -- primarily because we were shocked that Miguel Cabrera went unselected.

So we decided to see who the next 30 players might be. Now, the owners below didn't draft the players, but we included the names since the first-round pick may have affected the second-round pick. Dave went first and made all the odd picks, while Eric made the even selections.

31. Doug Glanville (Wilson Ramos): Miguel Cabrera -- Best hitter on the board, could have easily gone in the top 10. Not much defensively or in the car, but he can rake.

32. Tristan H. Cockcroft (Justin Upton): Adrian Gonzalez -- How are these great offensive monsters slipping so far? Tristan would have his 3-4 hitters for a while.

33. Barry Larkin (Roy Halladay): Jay Bruce -- Roy says he wants a big power bat for the middle of the order. And Bruce is a solid defender as well and just 24.

34. Buster Olney (Michael Pineda): Ryan Zimmerman -– It’s good to have strong defense at the hot corner, and Zimmerman brings that. Hopefully he brings more health, but he’s only 26.

35. Jonah Keri (Jose Bautista): Jered Weaver -- This team is in win-now mode with Bautista, so we’ll go with Jered Weaver, the best ace left on the board.

36. Tim Kurkjian (Clayton Kershaw): Tommy Hanson -- Why stop with one ace? Timmy would have the best one-two rotation punch in baseball!

37. Jayson Stark (Carlos Gonzalez): Jose Reyes -- We thought about the appropriately named Jayson Nix, but we’ll take a 28-year shortstop having his best season.

38. Rick Sutcliffe (Neftali Feliz): Elvis Andrus -- One Texas Ranger isn’t enough, and while Reyes is terrific, Andrus is 22 and has a lot of growing to do. Someday soon, he could be Reyes.

39. Kevin Goldstein (Stephen Strasburg): Eric Hosmer -- KG is a prospect hound so let’s give him Hosmer, who could be the best hitter in the game in a couple of years ... and the next decade after that.

40. Mark Mulder (Mike Stanton): Cole Hamels -- Gotta love the lefties! You say Weaver is the best ace on the board … I beg to differ!

41. Matt Meyers (Hanley Ramirez): Andrew McCutchen -- At least Eric didn’t give Mulder Ryan Howard. I’ll take the five-tool center fielder to go with our five-tool shortstop.

42. Jerry Crasnick (Starlin Castro): Matt Kemp -- Well, I had McCutchen all ready to go there, but Jerry profiled Matt Kemp back in March, and I got the feeling he believed a rebound season was coming. Kemp is, after all, only 26.

43. Christina Kahrl (Buster Posey): Colby Rasmus -- You can have Kemp. I'll take the center fielder with good on-base skills, power, good defense and is two years younger.

44. Jason Churchill (Carlos Santana): Jeremy Hellickson -- Jason’s catcher needs someone to throw to him. Hellickson might end up the AL Rookie of the Year, and there’s no reason he can’t keep improving.

45. Steve Berthiaume (Justin Verlander): Dustin Pedroia -- Off to a slow start, but he's a good hitter and fielder at a premium position. Plus, Steve is a big Sox fan.

46. Jim Caple (Joe Mauer): Prince Fielder -– At least one of Caple’s players should be durable and possess power. Fielder certainly can hit home runs. And when he moves Mauer from behind the plate, it wouldn’t be to first base, anyway!

47. Aaron Boone (Robinson Cano): CC Sabathia -- With Cano on board, Boone wants to win now, so it's the big, workhorse lefty who still has 7-8 more good years in. Or maybe 15 if he goes to Bartolo Colon's doctor.

48. Jim Bowden (David Price): Manny Machado –- Jim does love the prospects, and why do I (Bryce Harper) and Jason Grey (Mike Trout) get all the fun of choosing minor leaguers? Machado is an easily projectable shortstop and I’m sure Jim would agree he is worth waiting until 2013 for.

49. Jason Grey (Mike Trout): Brett Anderson: Jason is crushed by the Machado pick, but Anderson is a nice consolation prize.

50. Orel Hershiser (Jon Lester): Brian McCann -- I knew Grey would have wanted Machado! Orel probably scoffed at that and myriad other picks. He wants to win right now. McCann is arguably the best offensive catcher (with power) in the game, and he’s 27. Orel would love this pick!

51. Mark Simon (Ryan Braun): Drew Stubbs -- Mets fan Simon can't pull the trigger on David Wright and takes Stubbs and his 30/30 potential and terrific range in center.

52. Eric Karabell (Bryce Harper): Mat Latos -- Hey, it’s actually my pick! I’d better get my ace here. I considered Zack Greinke, but Latos is four years younger, and even if my home ballpark is small, I think Latos could overcome it. Plus, I’ll get him more run support.

53. Enrique Rojas (Albert Pujols): Carl Crawford -- Obviously, we're banking on both Pujols and Crawford just having slow starts. They'll bounce back ... right???

54. Jorge Arangure Jr. (Jason Heyward): Matt Wieters -- Jorge said he chose Heyward because he wanted a gifted offensive force for another 15 years. Enter Wieters, who will hit and head to many All-Star games.

55. Chris Singleton (Josh Johnson): Asdrubal Cabrera -- Nice grab on Wieters there, EK. I'm a believer in Cabrera, who is just 25 and pounding the ball so far this season. Even if he fades, we're talking about a switch-hitting shortstop with 15-20 homers and solid D.

56. Amy Nelson (Tim Lincecum): Logan Morrison -- Amy has her freaky ace, now she gets a young on-base machine developing power quicker than most thought. Plus, Amy and Logan will be Tweeting about their franchise 24/7. It’s a win-win.

58. David Schoenfield (Felix Hernandez): Pepe Frias -- HA! I control Schoenfield’s pick here! He gets the late-1970s shortstop that slugged .290 in his career, with one home run (off John Candelaria, no less) and he’s 62 years old. OK, he can have Shin-Soo Choo. We know he’s got power and good years left.

59. Keith Law (Evan Longoria): Brian Matusz. C'mon, EK, you know I'd take Terry Harmon over Pepe Frias. Give Klaw Matusz, a future Cy Young winner ... with the Yankees.

60. Karl Ravech (Troy Tulowitzki): Mark Teixeira -- All the things that Karl mentioned on his first overall pick make sense here. Consistent power, contract is set, winning organization ... Karl’s gonna score some runs! Plus, with the 61st pick in the franchise draft, he could always get some pitching ... wanna keep going?

Looking around the league at the starting pitchers Friday night could make a fan of a certain age feel kind of, well, old. A large number of the starters were younger than 25. While this might not seem like a big deal, remember that this puts them well younger than the average age of every MLB roster; the Royals have the youngest average age at 26.2, while the Phillies, they of the Fearsome Foursome, have the oldest average age at 30.7.

Friday night’s starters included three of baseball’s strongest young pitchers (all stats are going into Friday’s games). David Price (5-4, 3.89 ERA) started for Tampa Bay against the Indians, Tommy Hanson (5-3, 2.72) started for the Braves against the Reds and rookie Michael Pineda (6-2, 2.16) started for the Mariners against the Yankees. These highly touted youngsters have a lot in common. All three are big: Pineda stands 6 feet, 7 inches tall, while Price and Hanson are both listed at 6-foot-6. Each has come up through his respective farm system with the same team. All three are routinely clocked in the upper 90s. And they’re all younger than 25.

They weren’t the only young starters on the mound Friday. The Orioles started 23-year-old Chris Tillman against the A’s. Oakland’s starter? Gio Gonzalez, age 25. The Royals started a 23-year-old Rule 5 pick, Nathan Adcock, against the Rangers. Mike Leake, 24, started for the Reds against Hanson. The Angels started 22-year-old Tyler Chatwood against the Twins. And in a delightfully ironic twist that might answer the question of whether age and treachery really can overcome youth and skill, 22-year-old Rick Porcello started for the Tigers against knuckleballer Tim Wakefield and the Red Sox. Porcello is half Wakefield’s age.

The Rays definitely seem to have embraced the youth movement. Friday night was the 652nd game in which the Rays’ starting pitcher was younger than 30. The only longer streak was 704 games, set by the 1913-17 Washington Senators. And that streak was broken only because Walter Johnson turned 30. (Because even if you wanted young pitchers, how would you not start Walter Johnson?) Out of all these young arms, Hanson, Pineda and Price seem to be the ones with the most staying power. Each has the potential to be the face of his franchise in the future. It got me to thinking: Which one of them would I want playing for me in five years? In 10 years?

Going into Friday, Pineda had the best ERA at 2.16, followed by Hanson at 2.72 and Price at 3.54. Pineda and Hanson both had 61 strikeouts, placing them 20th in the majors in a five-way tie. Price had 56 strikeouts. Pineda also led all American League pitchers in strikeouts per game (minimum 40 innings pitched) with 9.4. Hanson was at 9.2 and Price at 7.3. In addition, Pineda is a likely candidate for the AL rookie of the year award. From many vantage points, Pineda would seem to be the likely choice as the guy you’d want playing for you five years down the line.

However, if I'm doing the picking, I’d take Price in a heartbeat. I like the way Price sets his pitching rhythm; he doesn’t seem to get rattled or thrown off his game by any batter tactics. And he is dominant, hammering in scary/hard pitches as though he’s hammering the nails into the batter’s coffin. I watched him break the Indians' home winning streak earlier this month and watched him dismantle the Indians' offense again Friday night, shutting them out and logging 12 strikeouts in seven innings. Price also won the 2010 Players Choice Award as the AL Outstanding Pitcher, beating out the likes of CC Sabathia and Felix Hernandez. It says a lot when the guys you’ve beaten all season vote for you.

Out of all these young starters, Price also had the best outing Friday. Hanson went only 4 2/3 innings, giving up three runs (two earned). Pineda gave up three runs in five innings with five strikeouts. Adcock was shelled, giving up seven runs in 2.2 innings, and Chatwood didn’t fare much better. And in the age and treachery versus youth and skill department, Porcello gave up six runs in three innings, while Wakefield went seven for the win.

Price has played only two full seasons in the majors (he pitched 14 innings in five games in 2008). The jump he made in productivity between 2009 and 2010 shows a young pitcher who has quickly learned how to dominate major league hitters in a way that others don’t seem to have done. While he lost in his first two starts this season, he’s finding his way back to his 2010 form. Shutting out the top team in the league is another a step in that direction. The fact that he shut out my team merely adds to my respect.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Susan Petrone writes about her beloved Cleveland Indians at It's Pronounced "Lajaway." If you follow her on Twitter, she might say something that will amuse you.

I wouldn’t go so far as to call it the mismatch of the century, but John Lannan trying to beat Roy Halladay in Philadephia was kind of like Mondale in ’84: Not a chance.

Halladay was brilliant with 10 strikeouts and no walks and Lannan was the opposite of brilliant with six runs allowed over two innings, dropping his career record against the Phillies to 0-10. To those of you who listened to Thursday’s Baseball Today podcast: I was just kidding with my prediction -- I didn’t really think the Nationals would win. Just a joke for Karabell's benefit.

So now the Phillies are 21-9, and they own the best run differential in the National League. As expected, the rotation has dominated as the club has allowed the fewest runs in the majors. In other news, Chase Utley may soon begin a minor-league rehab assignment, and the cheesesteaks are as tasty as ever. The only bad news is the Flyers are down 3-0 to the Bruins.

Actually … hold on, there is some bad news, of sorts. Of those 30 games, just five have come against teams that currently have a winning record, with three played against the Braves and two against the Marlins. The Phillies have also played 17 games at home. Which is why this weekend’s series against the Braves is so intriguing, because it kicks off this stretch of games for Philadelphia:

• 3 versus Atlanta
• 3 at Florida
• 3 at Atlanta
• 2 at St. Louis
• 2 versus Colorado
• 3 versus Texas
• 4 versus Cincinnati

That’s 20 consecutive games against winning ballclubs, which makes for a little sterner test than the Nationals and Mets have offered. As a comparison, the Marlins are 19-11, but have played 16 games against winning teams. Now, I admit, strength of schedule can be a little overanalyzed, especially in the NL, where there appears to be so much parity this season. But I still think these next three weeks will give us a better sense as to the strength of this Phillies team.

The Braves enter on a bit of a roll, with five straight wins and they have a plus-38 run differential (the Phillies are plus-41). Let’s take a little closer look at the series.

Friday: Derek Lowe versus Cliff Lee
You won’t believe this: Lee walked two batters in his last start. Clearly, something is wrong. Was he moonlighting as one of the Flyers’ goalies between starts?

Fun statistic: The Braves are gunning to become one of the worst basestealing teams in recent memory. They have five steals. Against 10 caught stealings. The last team to steal fewer than 30 bases was the 1994 Mets (in a strike season). But that team was epically bad on the bases: 25 steals, 26 caught stealings. Jose Vizcaino was 1-for-12.

Must-see matchup: If the Phillies let the Phanatic fill in for Charlie Manuel this weekend, could he outwit Fredi Gonzalez?

Saturday: Jair Jurrjens versus Roy Oswalt (probable)
You won’t believe this: Oswalt is expected to return to the rotation after missing a start while tending to his family in Mississippi after the tornadoes down there. Since the Cy Young Award was instituted in 1956, Oswalt is one of only 21 pitchers with 150 wins and an ERA under 3.25. The ones who never won a Cy Young Award: Nolan Ryan, Jim Bunning, Dave McNally, Wilbur Wood, Mel Stottlemyre, Steve Rogers and Oswalt. But Oswalt’s ERA+ (adjusted for park and era) is actually third-best of the 21 pitchers, behind only Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens.

Fun statistic: Nate McLouth is hitting .462 (18-for-39) in the eight-hole. With 11 walks. So we know this: Opponents still fear McLouth more than Braves' pitchers.

Must-see matchup: Chipper Jones is 7-for-28 with no home runs in his career off Oswalt.

Sunday: Tommy Hanson versus Cole Hamels (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET)
You won’t believe this: I love this matchup. I mean, I’m sure ESPN is regretting not televising that J.A. Happ versus James McDonald duel, but we’ll settle for Hanson and Hamels.

Fun statistic: Hamels is 10-5 in his career against the Braves (his most wins against any franchise), but just 2-9 against the Mets.

Must-see matchup: Ryan Howard versus Hanson. Can Hanson get Howard to chase something? Howard’s walk rate is dropping yet again, to the point that it’s now about half of what it was in 2007.


PHOTO OF THE DAY

People love a winner, and there's nothing wrong with that. People also love to assign credit for winning. There's nothing wrong with that, either, so long as we recognize its limitations.

Take a starting pitcher's win-loss record.

It tells us what happened, but not how or why. If we use wins and losses to judge the quality of a pitcher's performance, we risk reaching faulty conclusions.

Felix Hernandez is a recent example fresh in everyone's minds. He turned the American League into his personal playground in 2010, but because he played for a Seattle Mariners team that refused to score runs, he finished with a pedestrian 13-12 record. This led to talk in some circles that Hernandez might not deserve the Cy Young Award.

Beyond Hernandez, others suffered similar fates this past season. And still others succeeded despite themselves.

A while back, I repurposed an old Bill James study to compare the 2003 seasons of Jarrod Washburn and Ramon Ortiz. I've since done the same with the 2008 seasons of Jake Peavy and Tim Redding. In each case, one pitcher was more effective than successful, while the opposite held true for the other.

You can find these pairs of pitchers in any season. There were several in 2010, the most extreme being Atlanta's Tommy Hanson and Milwaukee's Chris Narveson.

Here are their overall numbers as a starter (Narveson began the season in the bullpen, going 1-0 in nine relief appearances):



Did Narveson have the better year? As measured by wins and losses, yes. As measured by run prevention, which typically leads to wins, no, and it's not close.

The obvious first question is what kind of run support each pitcher received. In this case, the answer doesn't help -- the Braves averaged 4.29 runs in Hanson's starts, while the Brewers averaged 4.25 when Narveson toed the slab.

So we dig deeper and discover something curious. When their teams scored three runs or more, Hanson and Narveson were indistinguishable:



Hanson was slightly more effective, Narveson slightly more successful, but those two lines are close. What isn't close is how they fared when their teams scored two runs or fewer:



Even accounting for the fact that Hanson allowed several unearned runs, this is a huge discrepancy. It doesn't explain everything, but does provide insight into why there is a gap between these two pitchers' overall effectiveness (as measured by ERA) and their success (as measured by wins and losses).

There are other angles to examine as well. One is how each pitcher fared in their wins:



And in other starts (losses and no-decisions):



Is it reasonable to expect someone with a 4.19 ERA to sport a record of 0-13? Well, Phil Hughes had the same ERA in 2010 and went 18-8. Anyway, this is a baseball column, not a calculus class so we'll stop here. If you're curious and motivated, here are some follow-up questions about Hanson and Narveson's starts worth considering:

" How well did the opposing starter pitch?

" How effective was the bullpen?

I'm sure you can think of others, but the point is that without proper context, it is impossible to make an accurate judgment about a player.

Wins and losses tell a story about a pitcher, but not the whole story. When we miss that point, we find ourselves dismissing Hernandez as a Cy Young candidate or arguing that Narveson had a better season than Hanson.

When we ignore available evidence, we look like idiots. Nobody wants that.

Geoff Young writes Ducksnorts, a blog about the San Diego Padres. Follow him on Twitter.