Blue Jays’ Bowden Francis climbs the learning curve following two near no-hitters

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Published Sep 12, 2024  •  4 minute read

Bowden Francis of the Toronto Blue Jays pitches to the New York Mets during the eighth inning in their game at the Rogers Centre. Getty Images

Bowden Francis would have been wise to spend part of Thursday’s off day scouring the local market or surfing the net to get his hands on Kevin Boland’s finely crafted book, Tomorrow I’ll Be Perfect, chronicling the life of Dave Stieb.

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Stieb remains the only player in Blue Jays history to spin a no-hitter.

If anyone can empathize with Bowden’s heartache, it’s Stieb, whose bid for perfection was matched by back-to-back near no-nos with two outs in the ninth inning, no less.

At least Bowden’s pursuit was denied on leadoff homers, if that’s any comfort.

When he did it the first time against the visiting L.A. Angels, Taylor Ward, who went the opposite field to break up the no-hit bid, dismissed Francis’ performance.

“I really don’t know,” he said post-game. “You know, I thought everything was hittable.

“Maybe to other guys, he made better pitches. A lot of guys were talking about his split and that being on. But personally, I didn’t think it was anything special.”

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The following day when Francis was being interviewed during the game’s live broadcast, fellow starter Chris Bassitt held up a hand-made sign reminding everyone, including Ward, of the statline Francis had compiled in his recent outings.

Chris Bassitt holds up a sign behind Blue Jays teammate Bowden Francis. Photo by Blue Jays /X

Francisco Lindor, an MVP candidate for the playoff-contending New York Mets, was much more gracious.

Mind you, it does help when your team scores six runs in an eventual 6-2 win.

“It felt really good,” said Lindor of his home run, the 31st of the season that match his 2023 total. “It was one of those hits that I could tell the vibes in the dugout were lifted.

“Everything was going his way until the last pitch he threw,” Lindor added.

Including Wednesday’s outing, Francis has allowed zero hits or one hit in four of his past six starts with all four going into at least the seventh inning. In his past 43 innings, Francis has yielded 12 hits.

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“I didn’t feel that one coming,” Francis said of the Lindor homer.

The two hits that left the park to spoil the no-no bid came on fastballs.

“I’m just going to learn,” he added. “I’ve gotten beaten twice with fastballs. Maybe from here on out, when I get this deep, I’ve got to empty the tank on some of the off-speed stuff or really mix it.”

Stieb’s no-hitter came on Sept. 2, 1990, at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium.

Junior Felix made the final out when Jerry Browne hit a fly ball into right field.

The list of no-hit bids broken up in the ninth in the many intervening years since Stieb’s feat include Brandon Morrow (Aug. 8, 2010), Dustin McGowan (June 24, 2007), Roy Halladay (Sept. 27, 1998), David Cone (June 17, 1995) and the two spun by Francis.

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“So many things have to go your way, whether it’s a borderline pitch, a play made behind you, how you’re feeling physically,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “It has to really line up.

“When you think about us (Blue Jays franchise) historically, it’s really weird that it’s worked out the way it has. And really weird for the same guy within a month.

“Bowden’s like the perfect guy for it to happen to twice, if that sounds fine to say. I hate that it happened for him, but he’s kind of quirky a little bit. But there’s a ton that goes into it. A lot of things have to line up.”

Francis clearly has earned his spot on the team’s 2025 starting rotation, but baseball is a funny game and weird things tend to happen and likely will happen.

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His season arc underscores the vagaries of the game. It’s hard to overlook his recent stretch and easy to project Francis as the fourth starter in the rotation.

“What I love about him is he’s had a really good stretch and he’s not backing off,” Schneider added. “He’s not backing off anything he’s doing in between his starts, he’s not letting his guard down thinking that he’s got things figured out.

“That’s the biggest thing I love about him. You look back at (Wednesday), taking a no-hitter into the ninth or even the last game against the Phillies (six innings, three runs) where he had to battle, it’s just really encouraging for him and for us going forward that he can navigate when he doesn’t have his best stuff or when he has to limit damage.”

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Francis did not have his velocity against the Mets and managed to record one strikeout.

Whether it’s Francis flirting with a no-hit bid, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. closing in on 30 homers and 100 RBIs this season, and even the impending return of Bo Bichette, at least there are some interesting items to monitor as the regular season winds down.

The jury still is out on the many players who continue to audition for whatever role in 2025 with the likes of Spencer Horwitz and Ernie Clement leading the list of candidates.

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Following this weekend’s three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Blue Jays will have six home dates left on the docket as the season ends.

No one will forget how the bullpen completely disintegrated once Schneider took the ball from Francis, reinforcing yet again the gravity of the situation and the glaring off-season need to acquire quality arms.

It’s small consolation, but Francis became the first pitcher since Nolan Ryan in 1989 to lose two no-hit bids in the ninth inning in the same season.

And to think Francis was out of the rotation following two starts to open the 2024 season.

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