McCann the Man

The Atlanta Braves' 8-5 victory over the struggling Washington Nationals Sunday came as no real surprise. The win pushes the surging Braves to a league-leading 5-1 record. What was surprising was a stolen base, and more specifically, who stole it.

With two-outs in the fourth-inning, Braves' catcher Brian McCann walked and then swiped second. It was only the ninth stolen base in his carrier, but that comes on only 11 attempts. That shows that smarts, more than speed, lead a player to success on the base paths.

Atlanta took the opportunity with the man in scoring position and followed with three consecutive RBI hits. On the day, the Braves were perfect with men in scoring position and it all came thanks to their catcher's spark.

The Braves need to hold onto the guy plain and simple because he is a player loved by the fans and his teammates. He is a locally-grown talent, having graduated from nearby Duluth High School.

McCann has been a big part of the Braves' early success. He leads the team in RBIs (7), apparently stolen bases (1), and is tied for the lead in HR (2), walks (3), total bases (16), and doubles (3).

Mark my words, Brian McCann is a future hall of famer and should go down as one of the best catchers in the game.

Entering only his fourth full season in the major leagues, the Braves' catcher has already been selected to play in three All-Star games and won two Silver Slugger awards as the best offensive player at his position. He is only 25 years old, and he is only just getting started.

By homering in only his second major league game and becoming the first Brave to hit a home run in this first playoff at-bat, McCann has already proved that he has talent with a bat unseen since the likes of Johnny Bench and Mike Piazza. Already, he has amassed 72 home runs, 301 RBIs, while maintining just under a .300 carrier batting average.

The Atlanta-native further proved his worth by not only representing the United States in the World Baseball Classic, but then returning late to the Braves' spring training and handling three new starting pitchers, one who does not even speak English.

For many of these reasons, McCann is the heart and soul of the Atlanta team. He was recently moved to the clean-up spot in the batting order thanks to his pension for clutch hitting and overall consistency. That seems to be the biggest indicator of success at this level: stability, something Brian McCann has in abundance.