Bill Center, longtime sportswriter for U-T San Diego, is an employee of the Padres.

Elsewhere on this site today, AJ Cassavell discusses the greatly improved defense of Padres corner outfielder Hunter Renfroe and the role Renfroe’s arm plays.

As noted, Renfroe’s 12 outfield assists are tied for the most in the Major Leagues this season.

And recently, Padres broadcasters Ted Leitner and Jesse Agler discussed where Renfroe’s arm strength ranks among Padres’ all-time right fielders.

I started thinking about the question posed by Leitner and Agler.

I’ve got Renfroe at No. 3 in pure strength and maybe No. 2 when it comes to effectiveness.

No. 1 on my all-time list was Ollie Brown, the first player taken by the Padres in the 1968 expansion draft. Brown, who played for the Padres during their first four seasons, had a cannon -- and had ample opportunity to use it during the Padres’ formative years. It might have been one of the strongest arms ever by a Major League outfielder.

And it was as accurate as it was strong. The highest compliment paid to Brown’s arm was the opponents’ regular decision not to test it. During the Padres’ second season, the Giants had runners on first and second with no one out when the batter blooped a short fly to right. It dropped in front of the charging Brown, who threw the lead runner out at third on a force. At third!

The only other arm on the Major League Padres that I would rank higher than Renfroe’s on pure strength was owned by Hall of Famer Dave Winfield.

What about five-time Gold Glove Award winner and Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn?

Gwynn, like Renfroe, was a below-average defensive outfielder when he first reached the Major Leagues. And like Renfroe, he worked to become a superior outfielder.

But Gwynn didn’t have the strongest of arms, although runners came to respect his arm. Gwynn more than made up for pure arm strength by aggressively charging balls, using a quick release and making deadly accurate throws.

My ranking of arms among Padres right fielders:

1. Ollie Brown

2. Dave Winfield

3. Hunter Renfroe

4. Tony Gwynn

5. Brian Giles

And there is a wild card to play. Rocky Colavito, who played for the 1956 Pacific Coast League Padres, had an absolute gun.

Notebook

• Right-hander Cal Quantrill went seven innings for the first time in his career Friday night, giving up no runs on five hits and no walks with five strikeouts. In eight appearances (five starts) since June 28, Quantrill has given up eight runs (six earned) on 25 hits and seven walks with 27 strikeouts in 36 1/3 innings. He is 4-1 during the run with a 1.49 earned run average and a 0.881 WHIP.

• Shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. was 1-for-3 with a two-run double, two walks and two stolen bases Friday night, extending his hitting streak to 13 games. That is the longest hitting streak of his career and matches the longest by a Padre this season (Manny Machado had a 13-game streak from June 12-26). Tatis is hitting .327 (18-for-55) during the streak with two doubles, six homers, 12 RBIs and 10 runs scored, with a .403 on-base percentage and a .691 slugging percentage for a 1.094 OPS. Tatis has hits in 19 of his last 20 games.

• Catcher Francisco Mejía has at least two hits in each of his last four games. He is 10-for-16 during the surge with a double, a homer, one RBI and five runs scored -- raising his batting average 40 points to .269.

• Second baseman Luis Urías is 9-for-30 in his last 11 games (10 starts) with a double, a homer, six walks, three hit-by-pitches, three RBIs and eight runs scored for a slash line of .300/.462/.433/.895.