Braves.MLB.com

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- When Brent Lillibridge learned the importance of goal setting during his playing days at the University of Washington, he didn't realize it would take just one professional season before he greatly exceeded his own expectations.
Coming off the standout season he produced in Pittsburgh's Minor League system last year, Lillibridge has come to his first Major League camp with the goal to make a positive first impression on his new employer, the Atlanta Braves.

"At the beginning of next year's Spring Training, I want to have a different number on the back of jersey and have a chance to make the big-league club," said Lillibridge, who was acquired along with Mike Gonzalez in the January trade that sent Adam LaRoche and Jamie Romak to the Pirates.

So far, it appears the baby-faced, 23-year-old Lillibridge is on course to meet his goal. Through the first three weeks of camp, Braves manager Bobby Cox has been impressed with the shortstop's glove and deceptive power.

"He's got good hands and great range," Cox said. "He looks like a Major League player to me."

With a first impression, Lillibridge looks like the innocent teenage boy from down the street. But the statistics he compiled while playing for Class A Hickory and High A Lynchburg last year, show that he's not just some boy playing in a man's world.

"The great thing about baseball is that it's not as much about how you look in a uniform," Lillibridge said. "It's more about how you play the game."

While combining to hit .305 with 13 homers, a .419 on-base percentage and 53 stolen bases last year, Lillibridge proved he can certainly play the game. He was the only player in all of Minor League baseball to hit at least .300 with a .400 on-base percentage, a double-digit homer total and 50 or more RBIs and stolen bases.

"I think I'm ready [for the Majors]," Lillibridge said. "I just need a little more time to get the at-bats and added experiences."

Lillibridge, who was Pittsburgh's fourth-round selection in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft, entered last year wanting to hit at least .280 and register at least 30 stolen bases with a high success rate. By the time, he'd played 74 games for Hickory, he was hitting .299 and had been successful in 29 of his 37 stolen base attempts.

With his goals set a little higher, Lillibridge advanced to Lynchburg and continued to exceed his own expectations. In 54 games in the Carolina League, he hit .313 and was successful in 24 of his 29 stolen base attempts.

"I'm an aggressive base stealer," Lillibridge said. "But I really try to steal when I know I'm going to get the base. I'm not about just taking chances."

The University of Washington certainly took a chance when they recruited the 165-pound shortstop out of high school. But over the course of the next year, he added 20 pounds to his still muscular frame. By the time he was a junior, he developed into a first-team All Pac-10 shortstop.

Since beginning his professional baseball career, Lillbridge has been exclusively used as a shortstop and he believes he can play the position at the Major League-level. But at the same time, he knows there's a chance the Braves might soon choose to move him to second base.

With 18-year-old Elvis Andrus making his rapid climb toward Atlanta, there's a sense that Lillibridge will soon make the move to the right side of the infield. But for now, it appears he'll begin this season as Double-A Mississippi's shortstop.

"I believe I'm a shortstop," Lillibridge said. "But whether I end up at shortstop or second base doesn't matter. I just want to win and play a position in the big leagues. That's all that matters."