--RHP Tim Hudson feels better. Much, much better. For the first time since his Tommy John surgery last August, he feels like a baseball player again. As spring training began, he was doing everything every other pitcher is doing, except actually pitching. Once the season begins, he'll be traveling with the team.

Obviously, the focus is on his elbow. He began his rehab by lobbing balls from 60 feet, then 90 feet, then 120 feet. Then he started at 60 feet again, this time throwing in a straight line. He'll spend the next few weeks throwing straight at the 90-foot distance; he's been told that that's the distance where he will see the most improvement. By the end of spring training, Hudson expects to be throwing normally.

The real improvement, however, is with his cleaned-up rotator cuff. "My throwing motion's been great from Day 1," he says. "My arm's hitting spots it hasn't been in years."

The fatigue in his rotator cuff -- which Hudson didn't realize was happening -- prevented his elbow from staying above his shoulder. To pitch successfully, Hudson's arm has to stay up; that's what keeps his sinker down.

Hudson, while following the protocol of the team's physical therapist, has not been afraid to throw, not even on the first day he got the OK to do so from Dr. James Andrews, who performed the surgery.

"The only way to figure out if it's stable," Hudson says, "is to get started and do things right."

--OF Ken Griffey's decision to sign with Seattle instead of the Braves was met with consternation in Atlanta. Griffey initiated contact with the Braves, his daughter plays for an AAU basketball team in Atlanta, and his son will be playing varsity football at home in Orlando, which is obviously much closer to Atlanta than Seattle. Newspapers in Atlanta and Seattle both reported that he appeared headed for Atlanta before he turned an about-face and chose his former team instead.

--RHP Peter Moylan faced hitters Feb. 15 for the first time since his Tommy John surgery last May, and Braves hitters were dazzled by his velocity.

--RHP Rafael Soriano told the Braves that he's been throwing at home in the Dominican Republic, but neither manager Bobby Cox nor general manager Frank Wren got to see him do anything as the pitchers went through their paces in the early days of camp; Soriano was suffering from a respiratory infection.

BY THE NUMBERS: 549 -- Games played by RF Jeff Francoeur since his major league debut July 7, 2005, more than an other player on the team in that time.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "Oh, absolutely. He doesn't need to finish up somewhere else, that's for sure." -- Manager Bobby Cox on whether 3B Chipper Jones should retire as a Brave.