Bowden

Francis

It’s a fitting way to end the season for Francis, who was one of the most impressive pitchers down the stretch. Francis returned to the starting rotation on August 7th, leaning on his splitter more, adding a sinker, and relying on his curve much less. The results were outstanding with a 1.53 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 59 innings. The 28-year-old may not be guaranteed a spot in the starting rotation in 2025, but his pitch mix changes and late-season results make him one of the more interesting starting pitchers to watch in spring training.

Francis continued his outstanding run with another solid start on Wednesday, holding the Rangers to two runs over six innings. He had tossed five shutout frames before surrendering a two-run homer to Adolis Garcia in the sixth. His day would be done after six frames with six strikeouts. The 28-year-old right-hander will take a 3.47 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, and an 88/21 K/BB ratio across 98 2/3 innings into a start against the Red Sox in Toronto on Monday.

This is interesting, mostly because Serven has caught Bowden Francis’s last five starts during this incredible streak that Francis is on. Still, given that this wasn’t a relationship that was likely to continue into 2025 — Serven is just too weak offensively to justify the backup gig — the Jays might as well get Francis used to throwing to someone else again. Serven was hitting .159/.243/.222 in 71 plate appearances this season. He’s lifetime .187/.247/.293 hitter, in 299 PA even though about 40 percent of his plate appearances have come in Coors.

It happened against the Angels on Aug. 24, but since that was a 3-0 game at the time of Taylor Ward’s homer, he still wound up with a win. This one was a 1-0 game when Francisco Lindor homered, and Francis was immediately lifted from a tie game that the Jays went on to lose 6-2. The other major difference between the two outings was that Francis had just one strikeout today, compared to 12 against the Halos. His velocity was down about two mph, and he gave up eight hard-hit balls. Still, everything found a glove until Lindor’s shot to right. Francis has a 1.26 ERA and a 38/4 K/BB over 43 innings in his last six starts. He’ll probably make his next start against the Rangers in the middle of next week, but the Jays could push him back some after the 111-pitch outing today.

Francis, the AL Pitcher of the Month for August, gave up a homer to the very first batter he faced, Kyle Schwarber, in September. He later allowed a two-run homer to Kody Clemens in the second. He bounced back nicely afterwards, though, and wound up with six strikeouts and no walks. He’ll face the Mets next.

Francis gave up one hit, walked none and struck out five. It was another excellent outing for Francis. In his last five starts, he’s 4-0 with a 1.06 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 34 innings. That’ll play. He has to be rostered in all formats. The 28-year-old right-hander is set to face the Phillies at home next week.

Francis was outstanding on Saturday as he came three outs away from tossing baseball’s fourth no-hitter of the season. He had limited the Angels to three walks while striking out 12 batters going into the ninth. Taylor Ward broke up the historic bid with a solo homer to lead off the frame. That would do it for Francis at 117 pitches. The 28-year-old right-hander will take a 4.02 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and a 70/19 K/BB ratio across 71 2/3 innings into a start against the Red Sox in Boston on Thursday.

Francis struck out seven and walked none in a second straight excellent effort. His splitter was exceptional today; he threw it 32 times with no hard contact and just six balls recorded. Nothing else here is above average, but it doesn’t need to be when the splitter is getting results like that. Francis will face the Angels in Toronto next time out. We wouldn’t highly recommend him, but he’s not a terrible choice in mixed leagues.

The one hit was a homer from Mickey Moniak. Aside from that, Francis was perfect, winding up with eight strikeouts and no walks. This makes two nice starts in a row from a guy who had a 5.64 ERA, mostly as a reliever, as of a week ago. He doesn’t seem like a great bet going forward, but he wouldn’t be a terrible play in a road start against the Cubs on Sunday.

This was Francis’s best start of the season by far. Anthony Santander took a hanging curveball deep in the first inning, but that was all Francis gave up. He blitzed the Orioles with high fastballs and a mix of splitters and sliders for lefties and righties respectively. One of draft season’s most popular breakout picks, Frances has a chance to prove himself as the Blue Jays’ fifth starter for the foreseeable future with Yusei Kikuchi in Houston.