Bowden Francis

Robert Bowden Francis

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 6' 5", Weight 220 lb.
School Chipola College
High School Lawton Chiles High School
Debut April 27, 2022

Born April 22, 1996 in Tallahassee, FL USA

Biographical Information[edit]

Pitcher Bowden Francis was drafted twice while at Chipola College, first by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 18th round of the 2016 amateur draft, and one year later by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 7th round of the 2017 amateur draft.

On July 6, 2021 he was traded by the Brewers to the Toronto Blue Jays along with P Trevor Richards in return for 1B Rowdy Tellez. It was a trade that helped both teams: Tellez did not have a place to play in Toronto, but became Milwaukee's starting first baseman, whereas Richards, who was lost on the Brewers' deep pitching staff, became one of the Jays' most reliable relievers over the second half of the season. Francis had to wait until the following season to make his debut, however, doing so on April 27, 2022 in relief against the Boston Red Sox. He had been used as a starter in the minors, but the Blue Jays had called him up because they needed a reliever who could potentially throw multiple innings during a long stretch of games without a rest day. Before he could appear in another game, he was returned to AAA on May 2nd when the Jays had to trim their roster from 28 to 26 players and he did not appear in another major league game that year. At Buffalo, he was 5-10, 6.59 in 37 games, including 23 starts. He pitched much better in winter ball with the Criollos de Caguas, with an ERA of 1.51 in 9 starts.

Bowden demonstrated that he could be a useful pitcher at the major league level in 2023. He started the year with Buffalo, made a rehabilitation assignment with the Dunedin Blue Jays of the Florida State League in May, then was called up to Toronto for the first time in June. He shuttled between AAA and the majors the rest of the year, going 0-2, 2.67 in 9 games with the Bisons and 1-0, 1.73 in 20 games with Toronto. All 20 outings were in relief and he was basically the only Jays reliever who could go multiple innings on a regular basis, logging 36 1/3 and striking out 35 opponents.

In 2024, he began the season as the Jays' fifth starter after a good performance in spring training, but his first major league start on April 1st was a disaster, as he gave up 7 runs in 5 1/3 innings while the Jays were no-hit by Ronel Blanco of the Houston Astros. His next start on April 7th against the New York Yankees was no better, with 5 runs allowed in 3 innings. His record at that point stood at 0-2, 12.96 and he was on the bubble to go back to Buffalo, but instead the Jays decided to move him to long relief, and more specifically to piggy-back with Yariel Rodriguez, who had just been promoted to replace him as the fifth starter, but who would need to work with a strict pitch count at first after not pitching at all since the 2023 World Baseball Classic. The plan worked beautifully, as Rodriguez pitched well in his first two abbreviated starts, both times turning the ball over to Francis without having completed five innings, and both times Francis pitched until the end of the 6th inning and was credited with a win. He combined with Rodríguez again on April 24th, pitching 2 innings after Yariel had gone four, but the next day he was placed on the injured list with forearm tendinitis. He only returned at the beginning of June and pitched better that month, lowering his ERA from 8.59 to 5.35, after going 1-0, 2.84 in 8 games. He did not pitch as well in July, but after taking over Yusei Kikuchi's spot in the starting rotation following the trading deadline, he began to pitch lights out. On August 12th and August 18th, he earned a win in consecutive starts, pitching 7 innings each time and allowing just 4 hits and 1 run over those 14 innings. That performance earned him Player of the Week honors in the American League. He did even better in his following start against the Los Angeles Angels on August 24th, pitching 8 hitless innings before allowing a homer to Taylor Ward to lead off the 9th. He struck out a career-high 12 batters in that game. Chad Green then took over on the mound and retired the final three batters to preserve the 3-1 win. And if that wasn't enough, he was at it again on August 29th, this time blanking the Boston Red Sox for seven innings at Fenway Park in a 2-0 win. He did not give up a first hit until the 6th inning when Nick Sogard singled with one out. Given his high pitch count in his previous start, manager John Schneider decided to go easy this time, pulling him from the game after just 70 pitches. He concluded the month by being named the AL Pitcher of the Month after going 4-1, 1.05 in 6 games. On September 11th, for the second time in three weeks, he took a no-hitter into the 9th inning, this one against the New York Mets. But once again, his bid at immortality was ended by a homer, this time by Francisco Lindor leading off the 9th. That tied the game at 1-1, and Francis left, after which the Jays' bullpen collapsed completely, and the final score was 6-2 in New York's favor. Bowden was the first pitcher since Nolan Ryan in 1989 to lose two no-hit bids in the 9th inning in the same season. He posted his 7th straight quality start on September 18th, but in that game he gave up a two-run homer to Adolis Garcia of the Texas Rangers in the 6th inning, and those were the only two runs of the game, so he ended up being charged with a loss.

His brother Harrison Francis has also pitched professionally.

Related Sites[edit]

Bowden Francis on mlb.com

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