A question from my old friend David Aceto led me to look more closely at the Braden Looper situation. I rewrote my query to look at seasons rather than years before a pitcher's first start. There's been five pitchers who made their first start after at least their first nine seasons in the bullpen. None of them were more than a spot starter. The only pitcher who successfully made the transition from pure reliever to pure starter after a long bullpen stint was Charlie Hough. The knuckleballer spent the first seven years of his career exclusively in the bullpen. It wasn't until year 13 that he entered the rotation permanently. For his career, he amassed 440 starts.