Bluejay pitcher turned outfielder

- TORONTO -- Adam Loewen has been in the Major Leagues as a position player for less than a week, but he's already enjoying his time more than he did for three seasons as a pitcher.

The former starter transitioned to the outfield after fracturing his left elbow in July 2008. Instead of trying to suffer through a rehab process that would have lasted at least 18 months, Loewen decided to start his career over as a position player.

Loewen signed with the Blue Jays as an outfielder and began what would eventually turn into a three-year journey back to the Majors. He now finds himself getting to do what he always wanted to as a teenager growing up in Surrey, British Columbia.

"I was always told when I was 15 by older guys that played, 'Oh, you're going to be a left-handed pitcher. I don't know why you're hitting,'" Loewen said. "But I always enjoyed to do it. I knew I was going to get drafted as a pitcher when I was 18, there was no doubt about that.

"I accepted it, I knew I wasn't going to hit anymore, so I just enjoyed my last couple of swings as a college player."

Loewen always preferred to hit, but his 6-foot-6 frame with a southpaw throwing arm had scouts drooling over his abilities on the mound. It was enough, at the time, to make Loewen the highest Canadian drafted when Baltimore selected him with the fourth overall pick in the 2002 First-Year Player Draft.

Four years later, Loewen was pitching in the Major Leagues . Unfortunately, he was unable to stay healthy. After parts of three seasons in the big leagues with the O's, he had little choice but to go in a new direction.

Loewen was close to an agreement to return to the Orioles as a position player until he received a call from Cito Gaston. Loewen grew up a Blue Jays fan, and the sales pitch from a man who led Toronto to back-to-back World Series championships in the early '90s was enough to make Loewen switch organizations.