Lake Buena Vista, Fla. — After reporting to spring training five days early on Saturday, third baseman Chipper Jones said he was healthy and optimistic about the Braves' chances, and would place one statistic above all other individual goals for the 2008 season.

"There were a lot of areas I was pretty proud of last year," said Jones, who in his 13th season hit a career-high .337 (second in the National League) with 29 homers, 42 doubles (also a career high), 102 RBIs and a league-leading 1.029 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS).

"But there's only one area I'm thinking about this year, and that's games played. I've got to stay in the lineup."

Because of his many injuries in recent seasons, it's easy to forget Jones played in 153 or more games for eight consecutive seasons through 2003, including 157 or more in six seasons. He played in 134 games last season, after playing only 110 in 2006, 109 in '05 and 137 in '04.

He's set a goal of 150 games for the 2008 season, which he believes is reasonable if he can avoid what he called the "freak stuff" that sidelined him during the past two seasons.

He injured a knee on a wet field at San Francisco in April 2006, and hurt his hands last May when he flipped over a Pittsburgh third baseman running the bases. Both times he went on the disabled list.

Jones' .307 career average ranks second among switch-hitters to Hall of Famer Frankie Frisch, and Jones is the only switch-hitter with at least a .300 average and 300 homers (386).

Since June 24, 2006, he's hit a stunning .350 with 58 doubles, 48 homers, 153 RBIs, a .434 OBP and .655 slugging percentage in 185 games. But the Braves played 250 games in that period, posting a 103-82 record with him and 29-36 record without.

He'll have switch-hitting slugger Mark Teixeira batting behind him from day 1 this season. Teixeira hit .317 with 17 homers and 56 RBIs in 55 games after a July 31 trade from Texas.

"I'm gonna get pitches to hit in certain crucial situations," Jones said. "If he's seeing the ball well and a team fears him, I might get one or two more fastballs. My eyes light up when that happens."