"Given the recent episodes of exploding craniums in center field, the Braves may want to seek special dispensation from league officials to allow a therapist and maybe a couch in center this season.

Nate McLouth is one candidate to start. He started last season hitting .168, was sent down to Gwinnett and now admits, with the advantage of hindsight and bed rest: "It was like a runaway train. The harder I worked, the more I worried about it. It was like paralysis by analysis."

The other candidate is Jordan Schafer, a former solid gold prospect whose career bullet points include a suspension, a wrist injury, overconfidence, underconfidence and a double-demotion - from the majors to Triple-A to Double-A - six seasons following his draft class. Schafer said in understatement: "When you're used to doing things one way and then suddenly you feel handicapped, it's taxing mentally."

There are people in rubber rooms with plastic forks who don't feel so taxed.

Remember, this is center field we're talking about. For 10 seasons, Andruw Jones started all but 56 games in center for the Braves (and those 56 were divided among eight others). In the last three seasons, the Braves have had 11 different starters in center, with seven starting at least 27 games: McLouth, Schafer, Mark Kotsay, Gregor Blanco, Melky Cabrera, Rick Ankiel and Josh Anderson.

This has not been the position of stability."