ESPN Buster Olney Blog

Early in the season, Tony Gwynn worked diligently to tamp down the hoopla around Stephen Strasburg, for the sake of his junior pitcher. But now, with Strasburg nearing the end of what has been a spectacular season-long affirmation of his preeminence among this year's draft prospects, Gwynn is saying out loud what scouts have been saying for weeks: Strasburg is extraordinary, and he could pitch in the big leagues right away. Kirk Kenney spoke with Gwynn:

[Gwynn said:] "He's further along at 20 than any young pitcher I've ever seen. I didn't see some of the great, great ones, but for a 20-year-old junior to be out there recognizing that they're cheating on the fastball and just drop that slider right on them, then a change-up and then a 99 (mph fastball) on the black …"

What if Strasburg was to somehow slip to the Padres at No. 3? I asked Gwynn where Strasburg would fit into the Padres' rotation if he joined the team this summer.

"Three," said Gwynn, who would put Strasburg right behind Jake Peavy and Chris Young.

"If he went to Seattle, he'd be three.

"If he goes to Washington, he'd be one."

RIGHT NOW?!

"That's how I look at it," said Gwynn. "Now he's still got stuff he's got to learn. He's got to challenge the strike zone a little bit more at the big-league level."

It should be noted that Gwynn has done an extraordinary job at protecting Strasburg's arm, throwing him only once a week throughout the college season. History is saturated with stories of college stars' being asked to throw many innings, but Gwynn has used Strasburg with precision in order to protect the young man's interests.

The Nationals are in position to have a lot of impact with the draft, Chico Harlan writes.

Arroyo feeling better

There were days in March when Bronson Arroyo had lost a lot of the feel for a pitch coming out of his hand. But Arroyo knew as he pitched the first inning against the Pirates on Friday that everything was better -- he had complete command of his fastball, complete feel for the pitch. "Probably the best command of the fastball than I've had in years," he said.

He has come a long way in the past six weeks, after wondering in spring training whether the symptoms that he had from carpal tunnel syndrome would become something permanent in him. "It worries you all the time when you're feeling like that," he said Saturday. "There was one time when it felt like something [electrocuted] me in the shoulder, all the way down to my hand."

He couldn't command his curveball at all, and for Arroyo to pitch without a breaking ball would be like asking Joey Votto to hit without a bat -- so much of what Arroyo does is built on his breaking ball. But Arroyo got a shot of cortisone, and gradually, he said, he has regained the feeling in his hand as his symptoms have dissipated. "The last couple of starts," Arroyo said, "I didn't feel a thing."

It showed Friday: Arroyo shut out the Pirates for eight innings, allowing just four hits, and he has started his season by winning four of his first five decisions.

Dusty Baker addressed the question of why Ryan Hanigan doesn't play more than when Arroyo starts, in this Hal McCoy piece.

What to do with Oliver Perez?

One month into Oliver Perez's three-year, $36 million deal, the Mets are thinking about pulling him from the starting rotation -- this after he threw 41 of his 77 pitches for balls in his start Saturday, Ben Shpigel writes. Omar Minaya cannot shake off his manager in this situation, writes John Harper. The Mets should be refunded for the money they spent on Perez, writes Bob Klapisch. He should go to the minors, writes Kevin Kernan.

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