LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Maybe it's the contact lenses. Nate McLouth sees things differently now.

Three-hundred fifty days after he happily signed a three-year contract and proudly talked about the future, the Pirates' preceding center fielder wondered Thursday about his former club's direction, the negativity that surrounds its 17 years of losing, even the eye exam that may have missed his near-sightedness.

"After watching what went on last summer ... I was kind of lucky to be the first one to get sent out," McLouth said from the Atlanta spring-training clubhouse underneath Champion Stadium in Disney World while his contending Braves beat the Pirates, 4-2.

"It feels good to be in an organization that talks about the playoffs this year ... and not have to talk about years down the road. It's good to have that feeling in spring training."

Leading off for Atlanta, McLouth walked, stole second and scored in the first inning against one of the three prospects for whom he was traded June 3, Charlie Morton. After his 0-for-2 day, he talked differently than before about:

• The Pirates' nucleus -- "There are some good players, obviously, like Pedro Alvarez and ... the pitchers and stuff they picked up in the trades last year. There is certainly a lot more talent in the system. It's just that not all those guys hit. Everybody's a prospect, but not every prospect hits. Pittsburgh fans don't want to hear it, but time will tell."

• The Pirates' ability to make this plan work -- "Man, you know, it's tough. You understand what they're doing, to try to get as much talent in the system as possible. ... [But] you can never underestimate how much, like, chemistry and being with people for an extended period of time matters. It does matter. Seeing familiar faces every day that you've seen for the past year, the past couple of years. It's tough knowing guys are going to get shipped out -- I guess they've said they're done with that now -- but as a whole it's nice to have that familiarity. And that's something obviously they don't have right now."

• If it felt strange to play his old club -- "No, because I don't know half the people. It's like playing any other team: I know the coaching staff and a couple of the players, but there are hardly any leftovers."

• If ex-Pirates could have reunions or a newsletter (jokingly) -- "I don't want to pay that much for postage. That's a lot of letters to send out."

• The difference between the Pirates' and Braves' atmospheres -- "Things are a lot more positive and relaxed, from what I've noticed [with Atlanta]. People aren't as uptight. Losing for so long, there are so many negative things said about the Pirates. It's tough to read, being on that side. Defensive. But the thing is, it's true. That's tough to deal with every day, it's tough to deal with that negativity."

• The contacts -- "Guess they do [an eye exam] in spring training, but a blind man could pass that test. So I'd never really done a full eye exam. Got home a couple of days after the season ended and ended up getting contacts. It was kind of interesting to find that out when I got home. ... The way I describe it, it's kind of like going from watching standard-definition television to watching HD. It just kind of sharpens things up a bit. It has been a big help. Absolutely. Both in seeing pitches and in the outfield."

Pirates pitchers walked 10 of the 37 Braves batters they faced, including three of Morton's 10 faced and four of Brian Burres' 10right after that. Morton and Burres each hit a batter, too. Still, the Pirates trailed just 3-1 after all those walks and hit batsmen thanks to them permitting but two hits in those first four innings.

"In the bullpen [beforehand], I didn't have a feel for my pitches," said Morton, who admitted to some nerves starting against the same team that brought him to this same spring-training site for the seven previous years. "I'm frustrated. I don't want to do poorly. But I'm realistic I can't go out the first time and expect it to be there. I calmed down the second inning. I'll take that and move forward."

• Brad Lincoln gave up a hit on his first big-league pitch, albeit in spring, to future Hall of Fame candidate Chipper Jones. "I'm like, 'Come on, I'm trying to get my feet wet here,' " Lincoln joked later. He promptly erased Jones on a double-play grounder and, after a Brian McCann double on a 3-2 fastball, struck out Matt Diaz swinging. He said he came away "knowing, 'Hey, I can compete at this level.' Not bad. I was able to get out of it with no damage. Feel good about myself."

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