For someone who has both the only no-hitter of the season, the fourth-lowest ERA among starting pitchers in the AL and was just honored as the American League Pitcher of the Month for April, Derek Lowe has it all backward.

While starters becoming closers has hardly been unusual (think Rich Gossage, Dennis Eckersley, Tom Gordon, Kelvim Escobar, LaTroy Hawkins, to name a few), the reverse is almost unprecedented. Few closers go from the back end of the bullpen to the front end of the rotation. Rick Aguilera tried it with the Minnesota Twins, only to run into injury problems. He later returned to the bullpen with the Cubs.

	Derek Lowe Starting pitcher Boston Red Sox Profile
	2002 SEASON STATISTICS GM IP W-L BB SO ERA 5 35.1 4-1 9 23 2.04

"I haven't seen it happen too often," acknowledges Red Sox special assistant Lee Thomas.

After stumbling for much of last season as the Red Sox closer, Lowe lost his late-inning duties in mid-August to Ugueth Urbina, who was obtained from Montreal at the July 31 trading deadline. A little more than a month later, Lowe asked then-manager Joe Kerrigan about going back into the rotation, where he worked before going to the bullpen in 1998.

Lowe had struggled in his first incarnation as a starter, relying too heavily on his trademark sinker. His curveball was inconsistent, and his changeup was then virtually non-existent. Life as a 1½-pitch starter was, predictably, rocky. Lowe lost his first seven decisions as a starter during the 1998 season before giving relief a try.

Used as both a set-up man and occasional closer in 1999, his first full season in the bullpen, Lowe pitched a staggering 109 1/3 innings of relief, winning six, saving 15 and adding more than his share of holds. With Gordon sidelined for the entire year following elbow surgery, Lowe assumed the closer's role full-time in 1999 and tied for the American League lead in saves with 42.

But last season, he was tagged with the loss on Opening Day and his season headed steadily downward soon after. He had four losses and two blown saves by the end of April and became a convenient target for frustrated Red Sox fans.

"Actually," said Eckersley, "I didn't think he was all that bad last season. But he started off so bad, he couldn't get out of hole he made, and it turned mental."

By June, he had righted himself, but he fell apart again a month later, blowing four games from mid-July on. Relegated to support work behind Urbina, he thought a fresh start as a starter might salvage his season.

As the Red Sox flamed out in September, beset by indifference and clubhouse insurrections, Lowe was a lone bright spot in the final weeks. He won just once in three starts, but his ERA of 1.13 in those outings hinted that the experiment might take. If nothing else, it helped Lowe end the season with a degree of hope.

He dedicated himself to a demanding training regimen over the winter, aimed at strengthening his legs and building up his upper body. But despite a strong spring, Lowe himself was uncertain how he would fare as a starter.

After all, until recording a win last September, he had gone 15 starts without recording a win in the major leagues. And not until his no-hitter had he recorded so much as a complete game.

There was optimism all around when Lowe no-hit the Baltimore Orioles for the first seven innings in his second start of the season before surrendering a swinging bunt single to open the eighth. He pronounced himself satisfied with the effort, but warned that it didn't guarantee him anything.

"All I really care about is winning, especially after last year," he said after that outing. "And this feels really good. It's something to build on -- that's all."

	“	Derek is a different pitcher now as a starter. He mixes it up more and throws a lot more changeups. He pitches now, instead of going in there for just that one inning and trying to get you out. ”
		— Steve Cox, Devil Rays first baseman, on Derek Lowe

Lowe was particularly motivated to gain some distance from last season. Both individually and collectively, the 2001 season was a nightmare best discarded. In an unusual move, Lowe addressed the sell-out crowd at Fenway Park last Saturday minutes after his masterpiece and dedicated the win to the fandom, acknowledging that he had deserved their boos a year ago, and offering the no-hitter as a make-good gesture.

He encountered scores of well-wishers at a charity event later that night.

"A lot of people," he said, "were happy because of what happened last year and that was my goal -- to make people forget about last year."

As he freely admits, his transition is a work in progress. But the ability to make adjustments seems to come naturally to him. After the third inning Saturday, he detected a flaw in his mechanics. He went into the clubhouse and pitched in front of a mirror to iron out the problem.

"That's the beauty of starting -- you can make adjustments on the fly," he said.

Several members of the New York Yankees remarked earlier last month that Lowe had the nastiest stuff of any pitcher they had faced to date, an observation that hardly surprised Yankees pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre.

"Mel told me Lowe is going to be a great starter," said Red Sox pitching coach Tony Cloninger, who was part of the Yankees coaching staff until last winter. "He said, 'I'll tell you, I think the guy is going to have a great year -- you're going to enjoy watching him pitch.' And I think he'll get more and more confidence when he realizes how good he can be and continues to improve."

Already, opposing hitters are taking notice.

"Derek is a different pitcher now as a starter," said Tampa Bay's Steve Cox. "He mixes it up more and throws a lot more changeups. He pitches now, instead of going in there for just that one inning and trying to get you out."

Lowe's circuitous route to starter stardom -- starter to closer and back again -- is unlikely to start any baseball-wide trends. It's difficult to find more than a few candidates qualified to take the same path.

If anything, expect more starters to be transferred to the bullpen as teams continue to build their staffs from the back-end forward. Twelve-man staffs allow teams to rely on quanity, if nothing else.

Also, few have the makeup and stuff to do what Lowe is doing.

"It's pretty rare," says one major league advance scout. "You look around and there aren't a lot of guys you could see doing it. One guy I think could do it would be Keith Foulke (of the White Sox). He's got the pitches you need to be a starter -- fastball, slider, and a great changeup. Most of the guys able to make the conversion have a good changeup, because it's a different look.

"Most closers are hard-hard. They come in for an inning and blow people away, and some are really one-pitch pitchers. When hitters get that second look at a pitch, they make adjustments. This is kind of heresy to say, because he's been so successful as a closer, but Trevor Hoffman, because his changeup is one of the best in the game. But I don't think the Padres are going to move him, obviously"

Sean McAdam of the Providence Journal covers baseball for ESPN.com.