Better know your Blue Jays 40-man: Bowden Francis

Bowden Francis (wouldn’t it make more sense if his name was the other way around, Francis Bowden? I’ve known some people named Francis, I’ve never met a Bowden. There is a town in Alberta with that name, with a prison) (hey, I gotta pad this somehow, I know nothing about this guy, we don’t even have a picture of him) came to us, along with Trevor Richards in the Rowdy Tellez trade (just to finish off this subject, there has never been a player with the first name Bowden in the MLB, three with the last name Bowden).

Bowden a 25-year-old RHP (he turns 26 on April 22, so likely before the season starts). He was drafted in the 7th round of the 2017 draft by the Brewers.

He was #25 on FanGraphs’ list of top 42 Brewers prospects just before the trade:

Francis has had statistical success through the upper minors by relying on plus command of three fringe pitches. He added a slider for this year and now has four distinct offerings, of which the slider has quickly become the best. It’s also hard, which is important because Francis’ curveball is a low-70s rainbow, averaging about 73 mph, while the slider has been up to 87 and sits a bit below that. He has a power pitcher’s style with soft stuff, but Francis feel to pitch is excellent and I think he can stick toward the back of a rotation.

After the trade, he made 13 starts and 1 relief appearance with a 4.19 ERA. In 73 innings he allowed 56 hits, 15 home runs, 31 walks and 71 strikeouts.

The Jays added him to the 40-man back in November in preparation for the Rule 5 draft, which, apparently, is likely not to happen. It is kind of a ripoff for teams that added guys to their rosters. Oh well.

When he was added Matt said:

MLB Pipeline had him at the backend of the Jays’ Top 30, but from what I saw he doesn’t really have any standout pitch and consequently, I’m surprised to me him prioritized. I’d have him more in the rotation depth tier.

And yeah, I wouldn’t have added him. But, who knows, he could make a spot start or two if we have an injury or two in the rotation. He is a big guy (6’5”, 225) and gets strikeouts in the minors.

PECOTA has Bowden making 3 starts for the Jays (well, 3 starts in the majors), a total of 14 innings, with a 5.23 ERA.