2011 Braves display new personality

Here is one difference between the Phillies and Braves: Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins already is predicting a 100-win season; Braves catcher Brian McCann will barely talk about losing 15 pounds.

McCann isn’t being difficult. He just dreads those, “I’m in the best shape of my life,” spring-training stories. Too bad. He indeed looks great, and, yes, he may be in the best shape of his life.

But the cover-up does not end there.

Atlanta left-hander Eric O’Flaherty will not even confirm that he was the author of McCann’s offseason diet, a detail I gleaned from an impeccable source: McCann.

Now I’ve had players deny a lot of things to me over the years. But I’ve never had one deny giving nutritional advice to a teammate.

Say hello to the 2011 Braves, who most definitely are not like the Phillies, and, frankly, not much like the old Braves.

Oh, humility was always a Braves hallmark under Bobby Cox. That will not change under new manager Fredi Gonzalez. In the past, though, the team was known more for its talent than its toughness. Third baseman Chipper Jones was injured too often to set an example. Players such as David Justice, Andruw Jones and Rafael Furcal were so gifted, they did not need to grind.

The next generation is different — and may be gritty enough to stand up to the team that rules the NL East like a street gang, the Broad Street Phillies.

McCann, second baseman Dan Uggla and left fielder Martin Prado are fighters — “gamers,” in the lexicon of general manager Frank Wren, players who bring a certain intensity, a certain edge.

McCann has made the most starts of any catcher but Jason Kendall during the past four seasons. Uggla has made the most starts of any second baseman in the past five. Prado, Chipper Jones, says, “is an animal, an absolute animal. You almost have to back him off, he works so hard.”

Jason Heyward, the second-year right fielder, fits the new mold — he appeared in 142 games last season despite injuring his left thumb in late May. Freddie Freeman, the rookie first baseman, is the same way, Wren says.

“It’s not always pretty, but they’re going to do everything they can to beat you,” Wren says. “We feel that kind of makeup is just as important as talent in putting together a team.”

The difference in the Braves’ personality started to become evident last season. The team survived a furious race to win the NL wild card and then mounted a gallant last stand without Prado and Jones in the Division Series, suffering three one-run losses to the eventual World Series-champion San Francisco Giants.

The Braves again will field a bench of tough-minded veterans — Eric Hinske, David Ross, Brooks Conrad. The arrival of Uggla only reinforces the team’s new approach — and, more important, gives the club a much-needed middle-of-the-lineup threat.

“Everyone was getting better in our division,” McCann said. “We got a whole lot better. Putting him in our lineup, that’s something we’ve been missing for a while — since Andruw Jones was here, really.”

Andruw Jones’ last season with the Braves was in 2007. The team’s last division title was in ‘05. This club might not be good enough to overtake Philadelphia in the regular season. But the rest of the division could be weak, putting the Braves at an advantage in the race for the wild card.

The Braves’ rotation, while less accomplished than the Phillies’, is formidable. Their bullpen, despite losing Billy Wagner to retirement and Takashi Saito to free agency, is deep. And their farm system, the second-best in the game according to Baseball America, will provide reinforcements either through promotions or trades.

Consider right-hander Julio Teheran, the Braves’ top pitching prospect who ended last season at Double A. Newcomer George Sherrill, a left-handed reliever, noted that Teheran’s arms and fingers are so long, the ball explodes out of his hand even when he’s playing catch.

Now back to the Braves’ immediate reality: The team’s season will hinge at least in part on the health of Chipper Jones, who turns 39 on April 24 and is coming off surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee.

Prado will return to third if Jones again misses significant time, opening a hole in left. And although the Braves are encouraged by the early signs from Nate McLouth, they’re not exactly solid in center, either.

Still, with or without Chipper, this is a team with an enviable nucleus of position players going forward.

McCann and Prado, both 27, are under club control through 2013. Uggla, soon to be 31, and Heyward, 21, are under control through ’15.

McCann, a five-time All-Star, rededicated himself during the offseason, noting that he lacked energy last August and faded in September. He spoke with O’Flaherty, who is quite health conscious, and the reliever prescribed him a new diet. McCann followed O’Flaherty’s program and dropped from 235 to 220 pounds.

“I don’t eat now for pleasure,” McCann said. “I eat because it’s what I’m supposed to be doing. I’ve learned to like things I never thought I’d ever eat.”

Such as?

“Asparagus. Salad with no dressing. Stuff like that.”

McCann, of course, eats dirt, too.

Different generation. New kind of Brave.