Atlanta Braves

Though they are coming off their first playoff appearance in five years, the Atlanta Braves are still set to begin a new chapter of their storied franchise.

The Washington Nationals will just be happy if they can take some baby steps forward in bringing a winning season to the nation's capital.

Led by new manager Fredi Gonzalez, Atlanta kicks off its 2011 season against Washington in the opener of a three-game series at Nationals Park.

The Braves will begin a season without Bobby Cox as their manager for the first time since 1989, one year before Cox began his second tenure with the club. In total, he managed the Atlanta franchise for 25 seasons, winning over 2,000 games, five National League pennants and the 1995 World Series before retiring at the end of the 2010 season.

Atlanta tried to send Cox out on top, winning the NL Wild Card to return to the postseason for the first time since 1995, but was defeated in four games by the San Francisco Giants in the National League Division Series.

Gonzalez was hired on Oct. 13 to replace Cox after being fired by the Marlins in June. He spent four season's on Cox's staff from 2003-06 and went 276-279 during his three-and-a-half year tenure with Florida.

Dan Uggla will start at second for the Braves after being acquired from Florida this offseason and he will add some power to Atlanta's lineup. Uggla set career bests last season with a .287 average, 33 homers and 105 runs batted in, and is the only second baseman in MLB history to notch four straight seasons of at least 30 homers.

The acquisition of Uggla cost the Braves All-Star utilityman Omar Infante and reliever Mike Dunn and also moved All-Star Martin Prado to left field, while rookie Freddie Freeman is set to start at first.

Not everything is new for Atlanta as Chipper Jones is back for his 18th season with the club. Set to turn 39 in April, Jones is looking to bounce back from left knee surgery that ended his season early last year and the former MVP and 2008 NL batting champion hit .387 in 21 games this spring.

Taking the ball for the Braves on Opening Day for a third straight season is 37-year Derek Lowe, who was second on the club last year with 16 wins but also had a club-high 12 losses in 33 starts with a 4.00 earned run average. The righty, though, did win his final five starts of 2010 with a 1.17 ERA before yielding just three runs in a pair of playoff losses.

Lowe faced the Nationals five times last year, going 2-3 with a 3.52 ERA.

Washington will counter with its own veteran in Livan Hernandez, who went just 10-12 in 2010 despite a solid 3.66 ERA over a club-high 33 starts. The 36- year-old also topped 200 innings pitched for the 10th time in his 15 seasons.

The right-handed Hernandez, who is set to make his fourth Opening Day start with the franchise, went 2-1 with a 2.35 ERA in five starts against the Braves a season ago, yielding two runs or less in four of those outings.

Hernandez will try to get Washington's season off on the right foot after the club posted its fifth straight losing season last year. Though they avoided a third straight 100-loss campaign, the Nationals haven't finished above .500 since the Montreal-based club went 83-79 in 2003.

Help is on the way as Stephen Strasburg, the top pick of the 2009 draft, had an outstanding debut last season that was cut short due to an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery. He should be able to contribute again full- time by 2012, which is also when 2010 top overall pick Bryce Harper may be ready for the big leagues.

Those two will join third baseman Ryan Zimmerman and right fielder Jayson Werth to form a solid core in Washington. Werth will make his Nats debut this afternoon after signing a seven-year, $126 million dealt this offseason. He spent his previous four years with the Phillies, hitting .296 last season with a career-high 106 runs scored while averaging 29 homers and 84 RBI over the previous three campaigns.

Washington, though, did lose first baseman Adam Dunn to free agency and replaced him with former Diamondback Adam LaRoche after failing to land both Derrek Lee and Carlos Pena. LaRoche, who began his career with the Braves, had a career-best 100 RBI a season ago with 25 homers and a .261 average.

Second base will also feature a new look in Danny Espinosa, who should improve a defense that committed 127 errors last season. Center fielder Rick Ankiel, another new addition, should also help.

Nationals catcher Ivan Rodriguez enters his second season with the club and the 14-time All-Star will play in the 2,500th game of his career today.

Washington won the season series with Atlanta last year, besting its NL East rival in 10 of the 18 meetings. That included a victory in six of nine at Nationals Park.

Cincinnati Reds

The Cincinnati Reds begin defense of their National League Central title this afternoon, when they kick off the 2011 campaign against the Milwaukee Brewers at Great American Ball Park.

Led by NL MVP Joey Votto, the Reds surprised the baseball world last season, as they won 91 games and claimed their first division title since 1995. Their playoff stint was short-lived, though, as they were swept in the NLDS by the Philadelphia Phillies, highlighted of course by Roy Halladay's no-hitter in Game 1.

Votto, who will be honored for his award in pregame festivities, flirted with a Triple Crown last season before ending with 37 home runs (third in the league), 113 runs batted in (third) and a .324 batting average (second).

The 27-year-old has improved in both homers and average in each of his three big-league seasons and bumped up his RBI total from the 84 he'd recorded in 2008 and 2009. For his efforts, the Reds rewarded him with a three-year, $38 million contract extension this winter.

Heading to the hill for the Reds this afternoon will be right-hander Edinson Volquez, who missed most of last year recovering from Tommy John surgery. The former 17-game winner also had to serve a 50-game suspension for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

Volquez has started just 21 games since going 17-6 in 2008 and last year was 4-3 with a 4.31 ERA in 12 starts. He's healthy now and ready to assume the role of staff ace.

"He's capable of facing the tough opposition," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "If you're going to match up with No. 1's, you're going to have to throw shutouts and low-run games."

Milwaukee, meanwhile, could be the biggest threat to the Reds' crown, as they enter the year as one of the trendy picks in the National League, similar to way people felt about Cincinnati a year ago.

Three years removed from its last playoff appearance, Milwaukee opens the 2011 campaign under a new skipper in Ron Roenicke, but optimism is bursting through the roof at Miller Park for this year's Brewers team.

A lot of those hopes hinge on the offseason deals that saw the Brewers obtain former American League Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke as well as talented right-hander Shaun Marcum.

Those two pitchers, along with Yovani Gallardo and Randy Wolf, give the Brewers as deep a rotation as there is in the NL. Couple that with a lineup that includes Rickie Weeks, Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun and Corey Hart, and people in the Badger State are thinking about their first division title since Milwaukee won the American League East back in 1982.

"For us, [the goal is] obviously to make the postseason," Gallardo said. "Coming into camp, since Day 1, I think all the guys would agree with me. Yet again, we all know there are other teams in our division thinking the same thing. It's not going to be easy."

With Greinke starting the year on the disabled list, it will be Gallardo going for the Brewers this afternoon. Gallardo was tremendous for the team last season, going 14-7 with a 3.84 ERA while striking out at least 200 batters for the second straight season.

The Reds were 11-3 against the Brewers last season, going 7-1 against them in Cincy.

These teams last faced each other on Opening Day in 2000, when they played the first season-opening tie in 35 years. That game was called because of rain following a three-hour delay, with the score 3-3 in the sixth inning.