In the sensitivity chamber that is the Atlanta Braves clubhouse, Brian McCann's dietary intake is not an applied program. It is, rather, a lounge act.

No sooner did the he emerge from the players lounge recently when a line of inquisitors opened up on the ample catcher's bill of fare.

Pouya Dianat / AJC (ENLARGE)

Brian McCann has not made an error this season and has the highest slugging percentage and second-highest average among National League catchers.

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"How was breakfast, Brian?" Tom Glavine asked.

"Bear claw?" Jeff Francoeur inquired.

"Éclair?" Chipper Jones suggested.

McCann cut them off with the stare of an innocent, above the affront, a man, um, in full. Is this any way to treat the future of the franchise?

"Doughnut?"

Muttering something about "those guys," McCann turned on a grin and was right back on task, which is merely driving the Braves' next generation into tomorrow.

"I don't want to make this early success a fluke," said McCann, whom the Braves list as 6-3, 230. "I want to bring it to the field every single day. And I try to do that."

After some statistical slippage last year, the first two months of 2008 have resecured McCann's spot as one of the game's nascent stars. At 24, McCann ranks among the top three spots in almost every offensive category for National League catchers. His 18 doubles are second-most in the league, remarkable in that no catcher has ever led either league in doubles.

Furthermore, he appears a cinch, barring injury, for this third straight All-Star berth, running second to Chicago's Giovany Soto in last week's first announcement of fan voting. Since the All-Star Game's inception in 1934, only six catchers — Walker Cooper, Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk, Sandy Alomar, Pudge Rodriguez and Mike Piazza — were All-Stars in each of their first three full seasons.

McCann would become the seventh. Although he struggles to limit stolen bases (next to last in the National League with a 15 percent throw-out rate), he has yet to commit an error this season after making 13 one year ago. While Chipper Jones amazingly flaunts the .400 line, McCann's .328 average is eighth-best in the league, his .394 rate against left-handers a 130-point improvement from a year ago.

"I think people expect me now to produce every single year, every single day," said McCann, who starred at Duluth High. "I'm hitting in the No. 5 hole, which means the team wants me to drive in runs. That's my job."

Second baseman Kelly Johnson had never played with McCann until both were promoted to Atlanta three years ago. Immediately struck by his advanced hitting skills, Johnson has since come to appreciate better his knack outside the batter's box.

"He's one guy who comes to the park and treats everybody the same and everybody likes him and he makes you laugh," Johnson said. "And at the same time, he handles the pitchers and he's a really good hitter. He anchors the middle of the lineup. It's rare to get a guy like that."

"A left-handed-hitting catcher with power?" Braves general manager Frank Wren asked. "Who makes the All-Star team and hits for average? And is one of our best all-around hitters? That's a really special package."

Special enough to merit a second assessment of the Baby Braves who arrived during the 2005 season. After homering in his debut, Jeff Francoeur made the cover of Sports Illustrated, landed the corporate endorsements and emerged as one of the franchise's most marketable players in years.

Yet McCann, his old roommate, has found his own career arc. It was the catcher whom the Braves first sought to secure to a long-term contract, signing McCann to a six-year, $26.8 million deal before the 2007 season. Negotiations for a similar multiyear contract for Francoeur fell through last spring.

Since Francoeur finished third in the 2005 rookie of the year vote, his lone league tribute has been a 2007 Gold Glove. McCann has a Silver Slugger award and the two All-Star games. Del Crandall, who went to more All-Star games than any Braves catcher (eight), went to his first at age 23. McCann beat him by a year.

Since the beginning of the 2007 season, McCann had 169 fewer at-bats but has out-homered Francoeur (27-24) and posted just 11 fewer RBIs. In the same period, Francoeur has struck out 163 times to McCann's 95.

"[McCann] can do anything," manager Bobby Cox said. "He is such a tough out."

Do people really appreciate how tough?

"Nope. I don't think they do."

McCann revels little in tribute, perhaps because he saw his numbers dip last year. He lost 63 points in average (to .270) and 120 points in slugging percentage (to .452). And while his RBI totals hardly flinched (93 to 92 in 2007), he rarely felt right.

After returning from one frustrating road trip, he drove directly to his father Howie's hitting facility (Windward Academy in Alpharetta) for a round of pre-dawn tutoring.

"My timing was off last year and my stance was off. Everything I did was last year was just off," McCann said. "I went into the offseason to try and re-find them.

"I heard [Yankees star] Derek Jeter say one time, he does the same thing every time he steps into the box: Try to get the most consistency out of every swing. I try to think like that."

After Jones, he remains the Braves' toughest out, having ridden a career-best 13-game hit streak last month. His three-strikeout game in Milwaukee on Wednesday was just the third of his career. The more his teammates watch, the more they see.

"I remember my first impression was — big, strong kid, whatever — but his bat looks slow," Johnson said. "But it's not slow. It just stays in the [strike] zone. You can see the barrel, so it appears slow. It's just in the zone for so long. That's a great thing."

But so is breakfast. And if the Braves' favorite Falstaff must endure the occasional culinary review from a leaner teammate, he is willing to bear it for where he stands now.

"Where I'm at now," he said, "is trying drive in runs and help this team win."