It’s no secret that Bowden Francis has been on a tear lately.
The Blue Jays pitcher has lasted at least six innings in his last five outings, and before a loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday, had picked up four consecutive wins.
In that five-game span, Francis has given up just five earned runs on 12 hits with 38 strikeouts.
Even after that 4-2 loss to the Phillies, Blue Jays manager John Schneider left the game feeling impressed by the 28-year-old.
“Albeit you lose the game, and Bowden comes out behind, but it’s a far cry from what he was,” the Jays bench boss said on the Blair and Barker show on Friday. “He’s made so many strides, (the Phillies) lineup is a tough lineup to navigate, and to strikeout six, walk nobody and limit damage … it’s about the best outcome you can have losing a game for a guy you’re looking at to establish himself as a starter.
“It was another really good stepping stone for Bowden.”
On the season Francis now holds an 8-4 record with a 3.72 ERA through 24 appearances. The highlight of his recent stretch of play came against the Los Angeles Angels two weeks ago when he pitched eight innings of one-hit, one-run ball to go while whiffing a career-high 12 batters.
Francis wasn’t the only one to receive praise from Schneider, as the manager also mentioned “there’s a lot to like” when he was asked about rookie Will Wagner.
“It’s just a simple approach, Schneider continued. “The game does not speed up on him, and I think there’s a lot of room for improvement too, but nothing really phases him … he’s steady, he understands what the game is calling for.
The 26-year-old has made 64 plate appearances with the Blue Jays this season and is slashing .328/.348/.516 through that span for two home runs, nine RBI, eight runs and 21 hits.
“He’s just a solid baseball player … he’s a guy you can expect to be in the right spot.”
On the flip side of Wagner’s emergence as a viable option at second base for Toronto is that Spencer Horwitz‘s time at the position has been limited as of late.
Most of his appearances for the Jays recently have been at first base, something Schneider believes the second-year man is “better suited” for.
“I think (Spencer) coming in and playing second at the big league level says a lot about him,” Schneider explained. “But I think you look at who else we have and it kind of makes sense to keep him first base, (designated hitter), trying to put your best defence behind some of our pitchers.
“We’re just trying to maximize the guys we have here now, not that second base is going to be totally out of the equation for Spence going forward. I think with the other people we have around him, he’s better suited at first.”
As for Jake Bloss, the other prominent youngster the Blue Jays have in their system, Schneider is hoping that he’ll get to see some big-league action down the stretch with their expanded roster, but isn’t making any guarantees.
“There’s a chance we see him for sure… We would love to get him up here, but we’re not going to force it.”
Bloss came to the Blue Jays organization as part of the package in exchange for Yusei Kikuchi.
Through 15.1 innings with triple-A Buffalo since his trade, the 23-year-old is posting a 4.70 ERA with 11 walks and 14 strikouts.