Bowden Francis #44

Bowden Francis...Pronounced “BAO-den”...Married to Jenna Francis and father to son, Booker, and daughter, Jojo...Brother of Harrison Francis, a fourth round draft pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2017...First drafted by the Diamondbacks in the 18th round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft but did not sign...Spent two seasons at Chipola College in Marianna, Fla., combining to go 21-5 with a 3.31 ERA (59 ER/160.7 IP) and a 1.15 WHIP...Named a Rawlings Preseason All-American and Florida All Region 1st Team member in 2015.

2024

Named to his first career Opening Day roster...In his first career MLB start, on April 1 at HOU, allowed seven runs on 10 hits over 5.1 innings with a walk and seven strikeouts (all swinging)...His seven strikeouts swinging were the most in a Blue Jay’s first career start (since 1988)...Through his first two career MLB starts, posted a 12.96 K/9, the second-highest rate through a pitcher’s first two career starts in franchise history (min 5.0 IP), behind only Pete Walker (13.50 K/9)...On injured list (right forearm extensor tendinitis) from April 25-June 3...Made four rehab appearances (two starts) with Triple-A Buffalo, going 2-1 with a 1.74 ERA (2 ER/10.1 IP), two walks, 11 strikeouts, a 0.77 WHIP, and a .162 opponent average...On July 29 at BAL, pitched 5.2 innings allowing three runs on six hits and a walk with a pair of strikeouts...Earned his first career win as a starter...Retired 21 of the 22 batters he faced on Aug. 12 at LAA, over seven innings of one-run ball, surrendering only a solo home run in the third inning, while recording eight strikeouts...Was his first career quality start...Became just the third pitcher in TOR history to toss 7.0+ innings of one-run ball on one hit, no walks, and at least eight strikeouts, joining Alek Manoah (8.0 IP, H, 0ER, 10K on Sept 13, 2021 vs. TB) and Roy Halladay (CG, 9.0IP, H, ER, 8K)...Earned his sixth win of the season on Aug. 18 at CHC, tossing seven shutout frames with three hits, no walks, and seven strikeouts on 95 pitches (71 strikes)...Threw 7.0 innings in consecutive outings for the first time in his career...Became the fourth pitcher in franchise history to pitch at least 14.0 innings over a two-game span with one-or-fewer runs, four-or-fewer hits, and at least 15 strikeouts, joining Matt Shoemaker (March 29-April 3, 2019), Marco Estrada (June 19-24, 2015), and Roger Clemens (April 27-May 2, 1998)...Is the only one of that group to issue no walks over that two-game span...Began the game on Aug. 24 vs. LAA with 8.0 no-hit innings before surrendering a solo home run to Taylor Ward to lead off the ninth inning, the longest no-hit bid by a Blue Jay starter since Brandon Morrow threw 8.2 no-hit innings on Aug. 8, 2010 vs. TB…Finished the day pitching 8.0+ innings of one-run ball on a hit and three walks with a career-high 12 strikeouts... Became the second pitcher in MLB history, over a three-start span, to pitch at least 22.0 innings while allowing two-or-fewer earned runs with five-or-fewer-hits, three-or-fewer-walks, and at least 27 strikeouts, joining Rube Marquard of the 1911 New York Giants (27.0 IP, 4H, 0ER, 2BB, 30K)…Had his career-high scoreless streak snapped at 19.0 innings...On Aug. 29 at BOS, started the game with 5.1 no-hit innings before surrendering a base hit to Nick Sogard...Threw at least 5.0 no-hit innings in back-to- back starts, the first Blue Jay to do so since R.A. Dickey from May 29-June 3, 2016...Finished the night with 7.0 shutout innings on a hit and zero walks with five strikeouts...Was named American League Pitcher of the Month for the month of August, his first career honour, becoming the 2nd Blue Jays pitcher to win this season (José Berríos, March/April) and the 13th Toronto pitcher (20th occurrence) to win the award...In his six appearances (five starts) in August, went 4-1 with a 1.05 ERA (4 ER/34.1 IP), 4 walks, 39 strikeouts, a 3.4% walk rate, a 33.1% strikeout rate and a .089 opponent batting average...His 0.41 WHIP in August is the lowest in a single month in Major League history among pitchers with at least four starts...Was also named to MLB.com’s Team of the Month...Was named American League Player of the Week for the week of Aug. 12-18, his first career POTW honour and the first Blue Jay pitcher since Kevin Gausman earned the award for the week of Aug. 1-7, 2022....Over his two starts, went 2-0 posting a 0.64 ERA (1 ER/14 IP) with 15 strikeouts and a 0.29 WHIP, while holding batters to a .085 OPP AVG...Started the game on Sept. 11 vs. NYM with 8.0 no-hit innings before surrendering a solo home run to Francisco Lindor to lead off the ninth…Finished the game with 8.0+ innings of one-run ball on a hit and a walk with one strikeout...Joined Dave Stieb (4x) as the only pitchers in franchise history to have multiple no-hit bids spoiled in the 9th inning...Became the fourth pitcher since 1974 to have three no-hit bids of at least 5.0+ innings within a four-game span, joining Max Scherzer (June 14-July 2, 2015), Doyle Alexander (July 23-Aug. 7, 1976), and Roger Nelson (April 23-May 15, 1974)...Over his final eight starts, went 4-2 with a 1.33 ERA (8 ER/54.0 IP), a 0.50 WHIP, a 3.1% walk rate, and a 25.5% strikeout rate, while holding opponents to a .116 batting average...His 0.60 WHIP since the All-Star break is the lowest single-season post-ASG WHIP in MLB history (min. 10 starts).

2023

Did not allow a run in 14 of his 20 Major League outings... Recalled from Triple-A Buffalo on June 6, June 24 and Aug. 3... Made his season debut on June 10 vs. MIN, tossing 2.2 innings of relief (2H, ER, HR, 3K)... Picked up his first career MLB win on June 28 vs. SF, throwing a career-high 4.0 innings of one-run relief (4H, HR, 2K)... Tossed 3.2 frames of no-hit ball on Aug. 11 (BB, 3K), extending his scoreless innings streak to a career-best 12.1IP... Earned his first professional save as he pitched the final 3.0 innings on Aug. 20 at CIN (2H, ER, 4K, HR)... Played in 10 combined Minor League contests between Triple-A Buffalo and Single-A Dunedin, posting a 2.40 ERA (8 ER/30.0 IP) with 28H, 7BB and 45K.

2022

Made 23 starts and 14 relief appearances for the Bisons, going 5-10 with a 6.59 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP... His 110 punchouts trailed only Thomas Hatch (113) for the most among Bison hurlers... Recalled from Triple-A Buffalo on April 25... Made his MLB debut on April 27 vs. BOS, giving up a hit over 0.2 innings with a punchout...Struck out Kiké Hernández for his first career K... Optioned on May 2... Pitched in nine games for Criollos de Caguas of the Puerto Rican Winter League, going 1-2 with a 1.51 ERA (6 ER/35.2 IP) and a 0.79 WHIP (19H, 47K, 9BB). 

2021

Split the first half of the 2021 season between Double-A Biloxi and Triple-A Nashville before being traded to the Blue Jays on July 6...Spent the remainder of the year with Triple-A Buffalo, going 6-4 with a 4.19 ERA (34 ER/73.0 IP) and a 1.19 WHIP across 14 games (13 starts) with the Bisons...His 1.12 WHIP in 21 Triple-A East games ranked second best in the league while his 110 strikeouts were sixth most...Added to Toronto’s 40-man roster at the end of the year to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft.