Tom Glavine has gone 5-0 (allowing just four runs in 39 innings), and Andruw Jones has keyed the offense by raising his average from to .261 to .296 while hitting six home runs and knocking in 20 runs.

	Andruw Jones Center field Atlanta Braves Profile
	2002 SEASON STATISTICS AB HR RBI R OPS AVG 247 18 50 44 .972 .296

In fact, the case could be made that Andruw Jones has been the most valuable player in the National League so far. (Interestingly enough, earlier in the season we were asking if Jones would ever reach his potential.) Consider:

-- Jones currently ranks 12th in the NL in OPS, he's on pace for 44 home runs and 123 RBI and he's arguably the best defensive center fielder on the planet.

-- Of the 11 players ahead of him, only three play up-the-middle defensive positions: Jim Edmonds (who has been hurt and has played only 51 games), Junior Spivey and Lance Berkman. However, the latter two are just ahead of Jones in OPS and can't match his defensive excellence.

-- Jones has played every game. In fact, he has missed only two games the past four seasons.

-- OK, it's hard to be MVP when Barry Bonds is hitting .355/.574/.825, which means an OPS of 1.399. Which, by the way, is higher than last year's 1.378.

The Phillies probably won't be tempted to hit Giambi leadoff, however, like the A's did. Jimmy Rollins has a .340 OBP from the leadoff spot, and while that doesn't seem impressive, the Phillies (mostly Rollins) rank fifth in the NL in leadoff OBP and first in OPS.

Amazingly, only five NL teams have a leadoff OBP higher than the NL overall average of .330 -- the Marlins (.371), Mets (.350), Dodgers (.348), Cardinals (.348) and Phillies (.340). The AL has done a better job of finding leadoff hitters, as eight teams have bettered the overall league OBP and five teams have an OPS over .800 from the leadoff spot: Yankees (.896), Twins (.887), Mariners (.862), Indians (.825), Red Sox (.820).

Jones has been amazing with runners on base -- .407 with runners on (37-for-91) and .397 with runners in scoring position (25-for-63). Of course, so many RBI means the bottom of the Twins' order has been getting on base. Indeed, the No. 8 hitters (mostly A.J. Pierzynski) have combined for a .346 OBP and .500 slugging percentage, and the No. 9 hitters (Denny Hocking, Luis Rivas, Jay Canizaro) haven't been awful with a .321 OBP.

The Mariners would be wise to move the struggling Bret Boone (.240, anemic .311 OBP) out of the No. 3 hole and slide Olerud up to hit behind Ichiro and Mark McLemore, giving the team three on-base machines at the top of the order.