In a season that has been as turbulent as it’s been for the Blue Jays, it’s been clear that anything could happen from this point forward. Said turbulence has resulted in Jays fans nearly witnessing something at Rogers Centre this Saturday that hasn’t occurred since 1990.
Bowden Francis was set to take the mound for the 3rd game in their series against the LA Angels in which Toronto had won the first two game prior. Bowden, who was making his 8th start and 22nd appearance of the season had just come off of being named AL Player of the week after allowing only 1 run over 14 innings in his previous two starts. A positive sign for a player who had struggled prior to the all star break.
He was looking to keep up this streak of shocking consistency in this match, but no one could have expected the show he would put on that afternoon. A phenomenal 8 inning outing where he had been 3 outs away from throwing a remarkable no hitter. If he had done so, he would have been the first Blue Jay to do so since the legendary Dave Stieb himself.
The Blue Jays as a franchise have the second longest drought in the majors when it comes to throwing a no hitter. Only Cleveland, who’s last no hitter came courtesy of Len Barker in 1981 have a longer drought in that regard. It’s to some a meaningless anomaly, but its still a frustrating thing to have hang over a franchise when it feels like every other team has found one this millennium. Of course that all had the chance to change in this game.
At a staggering 117 pitches and a full count with no outs in the 9th however, the dream would come to a screeching halt, as Taylor Ward would launch a solo home run to left field, the Angels first and only hit of the game. So close, yet so very far. Francis would receive a resounding ovation from the fans at Rogers Centre for his efforts despite the fact.
Afterwards Chad Green would finish the job relatively effortlessly to secure the Jays 3rd straight victory.
Despite the disappointing outcome, it should not be underestimated the clinic that Bowden was able to put on during the game. One aspect that helped him throw such an impressive game were the 12 strikeouts he tallied while only walking 3 throughout the course of his afternoon. Deceptive pitching that fooled the Angels frankly non-existent offense throughout most of the game.
After such an outing, questions have arisen about the role he will play for the Blue Jays in the future, more specifically where in the rotation he fits? Blue Jays coach John Schneider said post game, “He takes really good care of himself. He’s physically strong. We’ll see how the next couple of days unfold and go from there.”
There was speculation that Schneider might have pulled Francis after the 8th inning, but he cleared the room of any of those rumors, simply putting, “Bowden’s battled for a lot of years to have gotten to this point, so I didn’t want to take anything away from him. That was his until he gave up a hit.
Schneider wasn’t lying with his sentiment, drafted in 2016 by Arizona, Francis would not see the big leagues until 2022 with the Blue Jays where he pitched 0.2 innings. He made 20 appearances last season with the Blue Jays between stints in the minors where he pitched 36.1 innings with an ERA of 1.73.
Francis has the potential to fill in the void created by the departure of Yusei Kikuchi in the rotation. However he would need a contract extension as he’s only pitching on a one year $691,784 deal. Upcoming contracts have become a massive question mark for the organization moving forward from this season, as a decent chunk of the current cores contracts expire at the end of the season.
However if Francis can keep showcasing excellence on the mound like he has lately, it would be a wise decision on the Jays behalf to offer him an extension to solidify him as the 4th man of the rotation to go along with Berrios, Gausman and Bassitt.
This offseason will be a crucial one for the organization to try and build a team that is able to be competitive in 2025, by the end of the season it would be more clear if Bowden fits in with those plans. As of right now, things are looking great for the 28 year old as belief in his hype only grows with each passing game he throws.