Gwynn Calls for Patience With Strasburg

Have you heard of San Diego State pitcher Stephen Strasburg yet? He can leap buildings in a single-bound and he throws a ball faster than a speeding bullet. And he'll immediately be the Washington Nationals staff ace when they draft him first overall in this June's draft.

Actually, that last sentence isn't too far-fetched to many baseball people. Tony Gwynn, Strasburg's collegiate coach who knows a little something about major league baseball, has said himself Strasburg would be their current ace. Gwynn also, more recently, has stated he's worried about the workload of the young phenom. He even went as far as to say that he would shut down for the rest of 2009 if he were Strasburg.

Gwynn also expressed hopes that the Nationals' franchise would be patient with Strasburg, despite any potential returns this season in terms of the attendance draw he might bring.

"Let's face it," Gwynn said. "The Nationals aren't the strongest team in Major League Baseball. I'm sure it would be a draw for them to bring a guy like Stephen in and bring him to the big leagues and see if he can pitch.

"Again, each organization is different, I don't know how it's going to be worked out, but if it was me, I would invest the money and I would be very cautious."

It's tough to not completely agree with everything Gwynn said, being such a huge fan of his, but I don't understand the immense gain of completely giving up pitching from June to next February -- when pitchers and catchers report to spring training. I am, however, in whole-hearted agreement with the spirit of the message.

The Nationals are looking at a center-piece here, so rushing him to the majors and giving him a huge workload in what is shaping up to be a lost season would totally jeopardize the future of the organization as a whole. Do you really want to risk over-working the future ace just to sell a few more tickets in 2009? Why not take it easy and let him work his way up the ladder slowly this year. When 2010 hits, he'll be ready to hit the ground running with Jordan Zimmermann as a potent 1-2 pitching punch.

Then again, I'm worried that Gwynn's exactly right. It's very possible the Nationals promote him quickly through the chain just to up their paltry attendance.