LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Mike Hampton has heard the claims that some pitchers have come back from Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery and proven to be even stronger than before. But to him, all of these claims are simply hogwash.

"People that come back stronger than before are the people that didn't work in the first place," Hampton said. "People that have always worked hard to do whatever you need to do to be stronger and in shape, you're going to just hopefully have what you had before you had surgery."

After throwing batting practice for 10 minutes at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex on Saturday afternoon, Hampton showed that he's at least moving toward regaining the strength he had before undergoing Tommy John surgery in September 2005.

"He was really good," said Braves manager Bobby Cox after watching Hampton show comfort while throwing only fastballs and changeups. "He didn't have any signs of facial discomfort because of his arm or anything. He threw nice."

After throwing live batting practice for the first time this year on Wednesday, Hampton seemed to be discouraged. But after slightly turning his aggression a little higher on Saturday, he seemed to be much more optimistic about his progression, which he understands necessitates patience.

"Until the season starts, you're always going to be a little bit leary," Hampton said. "It's a major surgery. Nothing is perfect. You don't want to get too excited or get too down. You just want to stay as even as possible and when it comes time to go, hopefully everything is good."

While using a little more aggression than he had three days earlier, Hampton only felt some occasional discomfort in his surgically repaired left elbow. He found that the pain only came when he pushed a little too hard, causing him to alter his mechanics and consequently put too much pressure on his arm.

"If I feel like this in a week or whenever we start games, I'll be able to go out there and pitch and see where it goes from there," said Hampton, who hasn't pitched with a healthy elbow since May 2005.

If Hampton feels good when he awakens on Sunday, he plans to mix in some breaking balls while throwing another round of batting practice on Tuesday. At that point, Cox will have a better idea of when the veteran left-hander will be able to make his first start in the exhibition season.

For now, Cox is just hoping to get Hampton to the point where he would be ready to throw at least five innings in his first regular-season start. Most Braves starters will make at least seven appearances before the regular season.

But in order to be ready for the regular season, Hampton believes he'll need only five. Thus, if he's not ready when the Grapefruit League season begins, he doesn't believe it would be a problem to miss one or two exhibition starts.

"If I can make five starts down here, I guarantee I'll be ready," Hampton said. "That would mean things are going according to plan."

Matured Escobar: Since Yunel Escobar arrived in camp earlier this week, he's been wearing a wide smile and regularly extending handshakes. In other words, he doesn't appear to be the same youngster who at times appeared to be disgruntled while playing at Double-A Mississippi last year.

"He's been super," said Cox, who is well aware of the problems Escobar and former Mississippi manager Jeff Blauser had last year.

Escobar, who defected from Cuba in 2004, opened a lot of eyes when he hit .406 in 86 at-bats during the Arizona Fall League. He hit just .264 with two homers in 428 at-bats with Mississippi.

Escobar's success in the AFL increased the belief that he could be productive at the Major League level. From what Cox has seen this week, he believes the 24-year-old shortstop certainly has the tools and simply needs some more seasoning with games at the Minor League level.

"He's really looked good," Cox said. "He's been working at shortstop, second [base] and third [base]. He's a special talent."

Thoughts from Saturday: After Saturday afternoon's workout, Cox had some encouraging things to say about both Chuck James and Kelly Johnson.

Cox was impressed with the ease Johnson showed while making some difficult flips to second base. If he's able to do something similar during games, Johnson will further prove that he's capable of serving as the team's second baseman.

As for James, he once again proved that pitchers are often more advanced than hitters during the first week of workouts. His victims on Saturday included Jeff Francoeur and Chipper Jones.

"It was almost like a game," Cox said. "[James] turned it up a notch. He was really good."

Braves bits: Still having trouble obtaining his visa, utility infielder Willy Aybar remains the only Braves player who hasn't reported to camp. ... Cox plans to announce his starting rotation for the exhibition season on Sunday. The Braves will play Georgia Tech on Wednesday and then host the Dodgers in their Grapefruit League opener on Thursday. ... Because of physicals, Sunday's workout will begin at 1 p.m. ET.