NATIONAL LEAGUE UPDATE: ROOKIE MCCANN ANOTHER CATCH FOR THE BRAVES.

Byline: Tony Jackson Staff Writer

MIAMI - He plays with his face hidden behind a mask. He plays with his entire body hidden in the formidable shadow cast by Jeff Francoeur.

In light of all that, Brian McCann is the second-most popular Atlanta-area product having a spectacular rookie season for the Braves. In fact, he's the second-most popular player in his own apartment in Duluth, Ga., which he shares with the inimitable Francoeur, a solid National League Rookie of the Year candidate.

But McCann, who earned the title of John Smoltz's personal catcher immediately after his call-up from Double-A Mississippi two months ago and recently became the Braves' everyday backstop when both Johnny Estrada and Eddie Perez went down with injuries, entered Friday batting .299 with four doubles, four homers and 13 RBI.

He also had a .370 on-base percentage, partly the product of his having drawn 11 walks - which is 11 more than Francoeur drew in his first 31 big-league games.

Not bad for a 21-year-old who is supposed to be in Double-A.

``I still can't believe I'm up here, getting to do what I have wanted to do my whole life,'' McCann told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

While the Braves were losing two of three to the Dodgers last week, McCann was going 6 for 10 in the series, with a homer and three RBI. But it is McCann's defensive ability, both handling a staff and throwing out would-be basestealers, that has Braves manager Bobby Cox and pitching coach Leo Mazzone gushing.

``He can catch anybody,'' Mazzone told the Journal-Constitution. ``(He has) great instincts.''

McCann and Francoeur are products of the 2002 draft. The Braves used their first two picks that year on Atlanta-area prep stars, grabbing Francoeur out of Parkview High with the 23rd overall pick and McCann out of Duluth High with the 64th. The two have known each other since shortly after McCann's father, Howie, left his job as head baseball coach at Marshall University in 1997 to become an assistant at the University of Georgia.

It didn't take long for word to spread about the 6-foot-3, 210-pound transfer student.

``He was eating at Burger King every single day, so he kind of went from being slim to chubby,'' Francoeur told the Journal-Constitution. ``When you first saw him, you would think that's not a baseball player's body. But then you saw the kid swing, and he could just rake. I mean, you knew there was something special there.''

Whoppers don't appear to be a staple of McCann's diet anymore. By all accounts, much of his success comes from his maturity and dedication and the fact he simply does his homework, meticulously preparing for each game by studying the opposing team's hitters and their tendencies and how he might attack them based on who is pitching that night for the Braves.

``The hardest thing about making the transition is learning the major-league hitters,'' McCann told the Journal-Constitution. ``It seems like everybody is on every pitch. ....You have to know what you're doing out there, especially in a pitching-oriented organization.''

And especially when catching the savvy Smoltz, who was 4-5 despite a 3.24 ERA in 13 starts before McCann's call-up but is now 8-1 in 13 starts with McCann behind the plate.

--Risky move: Washington general manager and notorious headline-grabber Jim Bowden is at it again. A month after trying - apparently unsuccessfully - to coax special assistant Barry Larkin out of retirement, Bowden appeared this week to be on the verge of promoting third baseman Ryan Zimmerman to the big leagues to play shortstop.

Zimmerman was the Nationals' first-round draft pick this year. He also is a third baseman.

``I would like to avoid bringing him up, but we are in a pennant race,'' Bowden said. ``And when you are in a pennant race that is this close, and it's going to make you better, you have to do what's right for the team.''

Such a move wouldn't be unprecedented, at least where Bowden is concerned. When he was running the Cincinnati Reds in 2003, Bowden called up reliever Ryan Wagner barely two months after the club drafted him in the first round out of the University of Houston.

The potential move with Zimmerman would be prompted largely by the horrendous season shortstop Cristian Guzman is having. He is still batting well under .200, and the Nationals have no shortstop prospects at either of their top two minor-league affiliates.

Zimmerman, 20, did play limited shortstop at the University of Virginia. Bowden recently instructed the coaching staff at Double-A Harrisburg to move him to shortstop.

``He has the ability to play both short and third,'' Bowden said. ``It protects us at both positions as we head into September. He is a very special defensive player, with great hands and a good arm. He is going to hit and hit for power. He is probably going to be rushed to the big leagues, but that's life.''

--Irreconcilable differences: For the second year in a row, Arizona is in danger of losing its top draft pick. A source told the East Valley (Ariz.) Tribune that Justin Upton was seeking a $6.25 million signing bonus, which would be the highest in the history of the amateur draft by a player signing with the club that originally drafted him.

The Diamondbacks have offered $4.7 million and don't seem inclined to come off that.

``At this point, I wouldn't characterize our feelings as optimistic,'' said general partner Jeff Moorad, a former agent. ``We're not inclined to leave (the offer) on the table forever. It's an acceptable offer.''

On May 30, the Diamondbacks signed top 2004 pick Stephen Drew to a $5.5 million major-league deal 15 minutes before they would have lost rights to him. The club's rationale for not offering Upton the same deal is that he is a high-school player who will need more time to develop, while Drew, a former JetHawks player, was drafted after his junior season at Florida State.

Tony Jackson, [phone]

tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com