By: Brian Frank
Bowden Francis was lights out for the Bisons in his last two starts. The 6’5” native of Tallahassee, Florida, fired nine shutout innings, striking out 13 batters and holding opponents to a .069 batting average, while only allowing two hits and one walk.
“His velo is up,” Bisons manager Casey Candaele said. “He’s spotting his fastball well and he’s landing his breaking stuff, his curveball. And he’s developed a split. He threw that a few times in his last start and it was effective against both left and right-handed hitters. That’s a new weapon that he has – and that’s helped. And he’s a competitor. He competes. He goes after it. He doesn’t walk people.”
Francis has a 0.93 ERA in 19 1/3 IP for the Herd this season. Photo Credit: Brian Frank, The Herd Chronicles
Francis has spent most of the season in the Blue Jays' bullpen – pitching in 16 games for Toronto, three of which were starts. He was recently sent down to Buffalo to be stretched out as a starting pitcher. He threw 58 pitches in his first start with the Herd and was up to 75 pitches in his most recent outing.
“I think just getting back to routine and just getting back into my tempo and gaining confidence in myself,” Francis told The Herd Chronicles of the keys to his recent success. “Just coming down to be able to work on stuff is better.”
“There's always a positive to anything,” he continued. “Even when you're getting sent down, or demoted, I try not to look at it in a negative way. I just figured I'd take the time to get better because I wasn't having a good time up there. So I think just get back to being me, so when they call me back up I’m ready to go.”
He didn’t have to wait long to get another opportunity in the big leagues. Francis is going to be called back up to the Blue Jays to start the second game of their doubleheader in Baltimore on Monday. There’s also a good chance he could stay in Toronto’s rotation, with the Blue Jays likely to trade at least one of their starting pitchers before Tuesday’s trade deadline.
Francis added a splitter this season. Photo Credit: Brian Frank, The Herd Chronicles
Francis was acquired by the Blue Jays in 2021 from the Milwaukee Brewers along with reliever Trevor Richards for first baseman Rowdy Tellez. He’s worked as both a starter and reliever in his time in the Blue Jays organization, but he’s glad to be back in a starting role.
“I really like starting a lot,” he said. “It’s just where I feel comfortable. I had some success last year in the pen and I know I can do it. But if I had to pick, it would be starting.”
Some of Francis’s recent success, as Candaele pointed out, comes from a splitter he developed earlier this year.
“I was trying to learn it in the offseason, but I came to spring training and it wasn't really consistent enough,” he explained. “So I tinkered with it and (Chris) Bassitt helped me with a grip and I kind of just kept throwing and throwing it. I think maybe about a month into the season I threw it in a game. Then each game I tried to throw like three more, three to five more, and now I'm at maybe 15 a game.”
Warming up at Rogers Centre. Photo Credit: Brian Frank, The Herd Chronicles
“Once I figured out the grip, now I'm just trying to simplify it and just trust it and rip it,” he continued. "Try to sell it. I don't want to feel like I'm manipulating it because then the hitter can kind of tell when I’m throwing it. So I just try to rip it. Make it look like a heater.”
The new pitch may be even more useful to him now that he’s starting.
“I'm going to throw it more starting,” he said. “Out of the pen, it just kind of depends. If I throw one inning, I’ll throw it maybe two or three times to a lefty, but when I get into starting I feel like I can get more feel for it, so I can throw it to righties and I can use it more.”
Besides developing a new pitch, Francis feels like he’s grown a lot as a pitcher over the past year.
“Just learning about adaptability, learning different roles, and learning the hitters up there in the big leagues,” he explained. “It's a different game and you’ve got to do your scouting. You’ve got to be prepared and you’ve got to make pitches. You can't just rely on your stuff. You’ve got to do the homework.”
Now, he’ll have a chance to build off his recent success with the Herd back in the big leagues, beginning Monday at Baltimore’s Camden Yards against the A.L. East leading Orioles.
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