Blue Jays' Bowden Francis starts are a black hole every five games
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As the Toronto Blue Jays have changed the course of their season and put together an extended stretch of strong play, Bowden Francis's starts have become sort of a black hole.
The right-hander has been struggling for nearly two full months and the pressure is certainly mounting.
While Francis didn't get tagged with the loss, his outing will nonetheless be scrutinized.
The right-hander opened the game by inducing some loud outs to Phillies hitters but then settled into a groove in the second inning.
In total, he retired the first 11 of 12 batters he faced and was on track for a performance that could've released the pressure valve.
Then, with two outs in the fourth inning, everything fell apart.
Here's the sequence from Francis before he was lifted for left-hander Brendon Little: Walk, walk, hit by pitch, walk, hit by pitch.
«Just felt like [I] got out of rhythm,» Francis said following the game. «Kind of lost feel. And then it just kind of snowballed.»
The right-hander said he re-introduced a two-seam fastball to his repertoire on Saturday in an effort to offer a different look to opposing hitters.
He used the pitch successfully early on in the outing before losing control of it in the fourth, resulting in the pair of hit batters.
Fortunately for the Blue Jays, Francis's fourth-inning struggles resulted in just two Phillies runs.
However, it was yet another blow for the 29-year-old during a season in which he's had to confront many.
Following the contest, the manager doubled down on his support when asked whether he wants to see Francis work through his struggles at the big-league level.
«Yeah, we need him,» replied Schneider. «And he's working his ass off with [pitching coach] Pete [Walker]. He's got to take what he did before the walks there in the fourth inning and kind of build off of it. We're going to need him to keep making adjustments.»
The club is 2-8 in Francis's starts since April 23 and as they try to stack wins in a weak American League, the Blue Jays could benefit from removing Francis from the rotation or at least consider being creative with his starts and deploying an opener in front of him.
Francis was asked how such support has helped him navigate his struggles. He paused to collect himself before responding.
«Kind of speechless when you talk about it like that,» said Francis. «It's been a battle, but they have been there for me. It's been huge.
«Just the way they have my back when I'm grinding [at] my [lowest]. The staff, everyone. There's a lot of big hearts here. And they help you through moments like these.»
Does Bowden Francis need to be removed from the rotation till he resolves his issues?
Tell us what you think in the poll below.
| POLL | ||
JUIN 14 | 223 ANSWERS Blue Jays' Bowden Francis starts are a black hole every five games Does Bowden Francis need to be removed from the rotation till he resolves his issues? | ||
| Yes | 206 | 92.4 % |
| No | 17 | 7.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
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