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Blue Jays 40-man Roster Review: Bowden Francis’ last two months of the 2024 season were amazing
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Photo credit: © David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Ryley Delaney
Jan 13, 2025, 08:00 ESTUpdated: Jan 12, 2025, 20:04 EST
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Bowden Francis had a terrific end to his 2024 season.
This is Blue Jays Nation’s annual 40-man Roster Review, where we look at the players on the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster. We’ll look at how the player performed in 2024, his season projections for the 2025 season, and any storylines heading into this coming season. In this article, we’ll look at Bowden Francis.
The Blue Jays acquired Bowden Francis and Trevor Richards amid the 2021 season from the Milwaukee Brewers. Aside from two-thirds of an inning pitched in 2022, he didn’t become a big league regular until 2023, where the tall righty had a 1.73 ERA and a 3.86 FIP in 36.1 innings pitched, with all 20 of those games coming in relief.
Francis started just under half of the 27 games he appeared in last season, finishing with a 3.30 ERA and a 4.36 FIP in 103.2 innings pitched, but his 2024 season deserves a deeper look than that.
The 28-year-old started the season in the rotation, giving up 14 earned runs in 10.2 innings pitched in three games, an 11.81 ERA, and a 7.20 FIP. From Apr. 19 until Jul. 13, Francis spent time in the bullpen and on the Injured List, posting a much-improved 3.54 ERA and a 4.63 FIP in 28 innings pitched, starting just one game in that span.
However, the Blue Jays sold at the 2024 deadline, including trading starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi to the Houston Astros for Will Wagner, Jake Bloss, and Joey Loperfido. Kikuchi’s spot in the rotation was filled by Francis, and my oh my, what a fun story the 28-year-old was.
Francis’ first start was nothing special, giving up three earned runs in 5.2 innings pitched, followed by an appearance out of the bullpen. His second start since rejoining the pen saw him allow two earned runs in five innings pitched. Then, it began.
On Aug. 12, he pitched a one-hit, one-earned run performance against the Los Angeles Angels where he went seven innings deep. Francis followed that up with another seven-inning outing against the Chicago Cubs on Aug. 18, this time not giving up an earned run. On Aug. 24, he pitched a no-hitter into the ninth inning before giving up a home run to break it. In that game, he finished with 12 strikeouts as well.
In the next game, Francis went seven innings deep again, giving up one hit in the sixth inning as he didn’t allow an earned run. Francis had a tough game (by his late 2024 standards), giving up three earned runs with six strikeouts in six innings pitched – yes, a quality start was his worst outing from August onwards.
Once again, Francis threw a no-hitter into the ninth inning, just for it to be ruined by a lead-off home run. Yes, Francis threw three separate no-hit bids in a four-game stretch, carrying two of them into the ninth inning. His next two starts were rather uneventful, giving up two earned runs in 11 innings pitched.
From Jul. 29 until the end of the season, Francis had a 1.80 ERA and a 3.78 FIP in 65 innings pitched. Moreover, he had a 24.7 K% and a 3.4 BB% making it one of the best runs in recent memory. From Aug. 12 onward, he had a 1.33 ERA.
Unfortunately, Fangraphs’ Steamer projections don’t have Francis pitching nearly as well, as it predicts he’ll finish with a 4.34 ERA and a 4.44 FIP in 158 innings pitched next season, with a 21.6 K% and a 6.5 BB%.
Either way, the biggest storyline for Francis is whether or not he’ll be able to pitch to nearly the standard he set in 2024. Even if the Jays get half of that, he’ll be a great back-end of the rotation starter with the potential to do more. You can’t ask for much more than that.
As always, you can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social.

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