Bowden Francis broke camp as the Blue Jays’ No. 5 starter last year almost by default. This season, he’s going to be a member of the rotation based on merit.
A lot changed for Francis in 12 months. He transformed from someone considered little more than organizational depth into a guy who is expected to be a valuable contributor on a contending team.
Francis has a historic final two months of the 2024 season to thank for that. The 28-year-old right-hander was given a second chance to start after Yusei Kikuchi was traded to the Houston Astros and responded by going on one of the most dominant runs in recent major-league history.
There were near no-hitters against the Los Angeles Angels and New York Mets, seven consecutive quality starts and a spectacular 1.53 ERA over his final nine appearances. After the all-star break, his opponents’ batting average of .188 was the lowest in MLB (minimum 50 innings).
It was a run that Francis will be hard-pressed to replicate. Nobody expects him to continue performing like a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but Francis has at least earned a longer leash than last season, when he was pulled from the rotation in April after two starts.
Roden has been one of Toronto’s most positive storylines to emerge from this year’s spring training.
Roden has been one of Toronto’s most positive storylines to emerge from this year’s spring training.
“It’s a new year, everyone has expectations,” Francis said about building on his breakout season. “Obviously a run like that was amazing to be a part of. I know the game will even out and I just have to stay consistent in my work — not get too high, don’t get too low.”
It seems obvious now that the Jays didn’t fully trust Francis last spring. He won a job in camp after Yariel ¸é´Ç»å°ùòµ³Ü±ð³ú went down with a back injury, but wasn’t afforded much patience. The Jays pulled him from the starting five after he surrendered 12 runs in 8 1/3 innings against the Houston Astros and New York Yankees.
¸é´Ç»å°ùòµ³Ü±ð³ú debuted soon after and Francis would spend the next four months travelling back and forth between Triple-A and Toronto. With the Jays, he was saddled with the role of long reliever and didn’t get another opportunity to start until the end of July.
What happened after that still seems hard to believe.
Francis started utilizing his splitter to devastating effect and found ways to have success late in games, even when the velocity on his fastball began to dip. He was the American League’s pitcher of the month for August after going 4-1 with a 1.05 ERA; September offered more of the same.
Francis isn’t going to maintain that second-half pace — nobody could — but the success earned him the right to be a full-fledged member of the rotation. A rough outing or two at the beginning of the season won’t change that, because now the Jays know what Francis is capable of and want to see how he performs across a full year.
“There are some Hall of Famers who haven’t run off nine or 10 starts like he did,” Jays manager John Schneider said. “When we talked with him … it was, ‘Hey, enjoy it because you have gotten yourself to this point, but don’t lose the edge that you had to have that performance.’ He’s about as ‘easy come, easy go’ as they get. He’s ready for it.”
Francis was expected to make his spring debut on Monday against the Detroit Tigers, but that was pushed back because of rain. He instead tossed two innings on Tuesday against the St. Louis Cardinals in relief of Max Scherzer. Francis surrendered a solo homer to Victor Scott II, but retired the other six batters he faced while tossing 27 pitches.
Scherzer’s spring debut as a Jay drew a large crowd, just like his bullpen sessions.
Scherzer’s spring debut as a Jay drew a large crowd, just like his bullpen sessions.
While the relief role is one Francis is familiar with, it’s not something he’ll have to spend much time worrying about this season. He views that as a good thing.
“I don’t have to think about going back and forth,” said Francis, who tossed a career-high 103 2/3 innings in the big leagues last season. “I can just let my mind focus on starting and get everything set up. Recovery is a big part of it — 30-plus starts will be taxing — but I know that my body can do it. It’s just about focus, intent and recovery.”
The Jays have a fairly good idea of what to expect from veteran starters José BerrÃos, Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt and Scherzer. There’s far less certainty surrounding Francis, which makes him the ultimate X-factor in a rotation that needs to be a strength if this team is going to have a shot at the playoffs.
Is Francis really as good as his numbers in August and September suggest, or is he closer to the fringy arm he was in April? The Jays would be content if he settles somewhere in the middle and becomes a reliable performer who gives his team a chance to win every five days.
Francis held onto that opportunity for less than a week at the start of 2024. This year, his runway will be much longer.
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