Miami — Andruw Jones will walk to the plate at Turner Field in another team's uniform for the first time Friday, and his former Braves teammates say they fully expect him to be greeted with a chorus of cheers.

"I don't think there's any doubt," third baseman Chipper Jones said. "He did a lot for this team and this organization. It going to be cool having him back."

"It's gonna be awesome," Braves catcher Brian McCann said of Andruw Jones' first visit to Atlanta this weekend with the Dodgers. "He's one of the closest friends I have. I know it's going to be special for him, coming back to Atlanta.

"He'll get a great reception. They have to [applaud]. He did so much for the organization. He's the greatest center fielder who ever played, in my opinion."

Jones, 30, won 10 Gold Gloves and racked up 368 home runs and 1,117 RBIs in 12 seasons for the Braves, who didn't try to re-sign him as a free agent after he hit a career-worst .222 with 26 homers and 94 RBIs last season.

He signed a two-year, $36.2 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and has hit .157 with no homers, two RBIs and 16 strikeouts in 51 at-bats.

"It'll be cool just to see him back here, to have him around," right fielder Jeff Francoeur said. "I know he's scuffling out there, but he'll get it going — hopefully after he faces us.

"I've talked to him a couple of times, and he watches us sometimes out there before the [Dodgers] games, and if they have a day game he's watched some of our games at night. You know, he misses being here."

Braves hitting coach Terry Pendleton said, "That's my boy. It hurts me to see him struggling. I want to see him have success, but not necessarily against us."