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Michael Bowden

During the major league draft Thursday, ESPN commentators remembered the first four Red Sox picks in 2005: Jacoby Ellsbury, Craig Hansen, Clay Buchholz and Jed Lowrie, all of whom have logged big-league time.

Peter Gammons, one of the commentators, quickly brought up Boston's fifth pick that year.

"And Michael Bowden," Gammons added, "is the best pitcher in Double-A."

And he's in Portland, ready to make his 13th start for the Sea Dogs today.

Bowden, 21, has been in Double-A for more than a year, receiving a promotion from Class A on May 14, 2007.

Now Bowden is dominating in Double-A with a 5-1 record and 1.09 ERA in his last eight starts. Triple-A could be beckoning.

But before speculating on where Bowden ends up, it must be seen where he's been; namely two places -- his mother's driveway and the mirrored Pilates studio back home in Aurora, Ill.

The driveway scene occurred three years ago and led to Bowden being available to the Red Sox with the 47th overall pick.

"On Mother's Day we do a lot of chores for her," Bowden said. "We got a big dump truck of gravel to patch in the holes. Our driveway is a long ways -- probably a quarter-mile long -- so we were shoveling and filling in the holes. It was pretty tiring."

Bowden, a pitcher for Waubonsie Valley High, was quite the prospect with his 90-plus fastball. Scouts would be watching his next start on the Tuesday after Mother's Day.

"That's when the soreness kicked in," he said. "I just felt awful. I think I was pitching 86 to 89 (mph)."

Bowden's stocked dropped, so he was around when the Red Sox used their next sandwich- round pick, obtained when Boston lost free agent Derek Lowe, on Bowden.

The Red Sox are careful about drafting high school pitchers but thought they had someone special in Bowden.

"He's very focused," Sea Dogs pitching coach Mike Cather said.

Which brings up the Pilates studio. It's where Bowden works on his flexibility with what he calls fitness Pilates. When the workout is over, Bowden keeps working.

"When the studio is empty, that's where I do a lot of my dry mechanics," Bowden said. "The whole wall is filled with mirrors, so I can see from every angle what I'm doing."

Bowden, who taught himself how to pitch, works on refinements continually.

"He's one of the hardest workers I've ever played with," catcher John Otness said. "He's a perfectionist, in a good way."

But the perfectionist can get hard on himself.

"Every year I get better and better," he said. "The first year, if I gave up two runs I was mad for three days. Now I get mad for the night and the next day I'm perfectly fine."

When Bowden arrived in Portland, "he was out to prove to the world that 20 was not too young to pitch in this league," Cather said. "He put a lot of pressure on himself."

Bowden finished with Portland last year at 8-6, 4.28. The Red Sox wanted him to work on his offspeed pitches in 2008, but Bowden lost his fastball command at the beginning. Through four starts he was 0-2 with a 4.04 ERA.

Bowden's forte is the heavy fastball he throws from his over-the-top delivery. He usually pinpoints it and batters don't get good swings on him.

"Everything comes off my fastball," Bowden said. "But I think my mind was so set on 'I've got to get my offspeed stuff working for strikes,' I was too focused on that. Then I kind of got off the command of my fastball.

"Now that I've worked on my mechanics and gotten my fastball back, then the offspeed is coming like second nature to me right now. I threw more change-ups and curveballs in my last game, and they were very effective."

All of that makes Bowden very effective, and likely ticketed out of Portland.

There is precedent for keeping an effective prospect in Double-A all year. Jon Lester was 21 in 2005 when he went 11-6 with a 2.61 ERA in 26 starts for the Sea Dogs and...