LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- There are multiple reasons why the Braves would like for Tommy Hanson to begin this season with Triple-A Gwinnett. But every time the highly acclaimed prospect steps on a mound, he provides more reason to wonder how long his club can keep him out of the Majors.

"He's real close," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "He's very close."

Cox's comments came after Hanson helped the Braves claim an 11-2 win over Panama's World Baseball Classic team in an exhibition game at Champion Stadium on Tuesday afternoon. The 6-foot-6 right-hander allowed one unearned run and two hits during a three-inning stint that began with him striking out three of the first four batters that he faced.

"He's got great stuff," said Panama catcher Carlos Ruiz. "He's got a great slider and fastball. He looks comfortable, like he could be in the big leagues for a while."

Ruiz and his Phillies teammates definitely wouldn't mind if the Braves chose to provide Hanson some more Minor League seasoning. The hard-throwing youngster has made just 18 starts above the Class A level, and from a business sense, there's always the temptation for a club to delay the start of a player's arbitration-eligibility clock.

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In addition, the Braves don't necessarily have an immediate need to put Hanson in the big leagues. They rounded out their rotation with Tom Glavine, who is expected to arrive in camp on Wednesday, and based on their current schedule, the fifth spot in their rotation will come up just twice in April.

But that doesn't change the fact that Hanson is doing everything that he can to create a difficult decision for the Braves, who had to be impressed while watching him freeze Carlos Lee with called third strikes twice in a span of six days.

While making his Grapefruit League debut against the Astros on Thursday, Hanson painted the outside corner with a fastball for a called third strike against Lee. Then to end Tuesday's first inning against Panama, the hurler presented a nearly identical fastball that the All-Star outfielder simply observed for another called third strike.

"The goal is to get to Atlanta, but also to stay there for a while," Hanson said. "I'd like to get there as soon as possible. But if it takes a while, that's fine, too."

While critiquing his effort against Panama, Hanson wasn't happy with the consistency of his curveball. Possibly due to chilly conditions, he had trouble finding his grip and consequently hung a few breaking balls. But his slider was sharp once again, and his fastball hovered around 95 mph.

"I felt a lot more comfortable out there than I did my first time out," Hanson said. "I'm just trying to go out there and get a little more comfortable with every outing."

Since dominating the Arizona Fall League, Hanson, who is rated as the game's fourth-best prospect by Baseball America, has been drawing endless attention from reporters, scouts, agents, executives and Hall of Famers.

Braves announcer Don Sutton, whose 324 career wins carried him to Cooperstown, arrived in camp on Tuesday excited about the fact that he was just a few hours away from getting his first chance to see the phenom pitch.

"I just want to buy stock in Tommy Hanson," Sutton said.

Hanson's future is undoubtedly bright. Time will tell how long the Braves will wait to provide him the chance to start providing dividends in Atlanta.