MINNEAPOLIS — A few Toronto Blue Jays pitchers were chatting recently when Kevin Gausman pointed out that Paul Skenes, the Pittsburgh Pirates phenom with 36 games under his belt, already has 10 more career starts than Bowden Francis.
“When we want to talk about early struggles or learning the game or understanding your game, understanding what the league is trying to do to you, he has less time than Paul Skenes,” fellow starter Chris Bassitt relayed Sunday morning. “I still think he’s going to have a great year. He’s just learning the game, learning how to prep before a game, what to look for, his zones to put his pitches in. It’s more the learning curve we’re seeing than anything else.”
Interesting outlook, especially as that learning curve steepened further for Francis during a 6-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins. The 29-year-old right-hander allowed four runs — two of them on solo shots by Brooks Lee and Christian Vazquez in the fourth — in 3.1 innings, making his 26th career start and 61st career game another troublingly short outing.
There was improvement in terms of limiting damage from the two-homer, seven-run, 1.2-inning mess he delivered last Tuesday at home against the Philadelphia Phillies. But with five walks and five hits allowed versus the Twins, there was still plenty for the Blue Jays to worry about, especially with his rotation spot quickly devolving into a second bullpen day.
“It’s frustrating. It’s tough. I’m not quitting. But I’ve got to turn it around,” said Francis. “I feel like the bad ones are where I’m growing and learning. But at the same time, I can’t keep digging a hole. I’ve got to find a way to get out of it, turn the page, so I can post for the guys that are playing hard. I’m just not doing that right now. I’ve got to keep grinding it out.”
The seeming progress he made in a five-shutout, six-inning outing May 27 at Texas now appears to be an outlier as he’s managed to go more than five innings only once in his last eight starts. Between that and the regular bullpen day since Max Scherzer hit the injured list after his first start of the season, it’s put a significant strain on the relief corps.
Meanwhile, even as the Blue Jays (35-30) have surged with 19 wins in their last 29 games, they’re now 4-9 when Francis starts, and with his next turn due Saturday at Philadelphia, there’s added urgency to the question of how sustainable it is to continue starting him.
John Schneider shot down the possibility of a change there or of doing something creative like using an opener in front of Francis — “We’re kind of doing that with one spot in the rotation already, so you don’t want to wear guys out,” said the manager — who added that, “we trust him.”
Francis and pitching coach Pete Walker “have been working really hard in between,” continued Schneider. “And we need him. That’s the bottom line. We need him to help contribute and be the pitcher that he can be. So you keep working to make adjustments. The stuff is where it should be. It’s just the mix and the location you’ve got to tighten up a little bit, that’s all.”
The lack of palatable alternatives is a factor there, too, although the depth dynamics are beginning to change.
Spencer Turnbull, the May signee whose 35-day option expired, was recalled after the game and will join the Blue Jays in St. Louis for the series against the Cardinals, in a role to be determined (Paxton Schultz was optioned to make room). The initial thought was to build him up for the rotation, and he got up to 80 pitches Friday in his last rehab start, but his fastball sat just under 90 m.p.h., down from where it’s been, and it’s possible he begins in the bullpen as he further builds up.
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That could push Eric Lauer, who’s posted a 2.08 ERA over 26 innings of bulk and starting work, into the rotation for Wednesday, when the bullpen game next comes up. Turnbull could team up with him in a piggyback situation, too.
Another possibility suddenly on the horizon is Canadian lefty Adam Macko, who underwent knee surgery during spring training and joined triple-A Buffalo on Sunday, throwing four no-hit innings with three walks and four strikeouts. He averaged 93.6 m.p.h. with his fastball, topping out at 96.4, and while he’s likely to need some more outings to fully regain his form, the club viewed him as a viable starting option before his injury.
Then there’s Scherzer, who threw three innings and 50 pitches in a simulated game at Dunedin, Fla., that included Daulton Varsho, who took the veteran righty deep, said manager John Schneider. There will be plenty of focus on his recovery as this is the workload threshold where his thumb issues keep flaring up, and the current plan is for him to remain at the complex to throw a side on Tuesday before charting next steps, with Buffalo a possibility to accelerate his path back.
In the interim, the Blue Jays will need their offence to out-hit any troubles Francis encounters, something they appeared to do early. They staked him to a 1-0 lead in the second on Alan Roden’s RBI double, and after the Twins took the lead on a Vazquez RBI groundout and Trevor Larnach sac fly in the bottom half, they went up again in the third on Alejandro Kirk’s run-scoring single and George Springer’s RBI double.
Francis gave that back again in the fourth, when Lee and Vazquez opened the inning with solo shots and the Twins locked things down from there.
Francis said his focal points between starts include working on his lanes to the plate in his delivery to improve his fastball command in and out, and at the top and bottom of the strike zone, as well as getting more strike-to-ball movement with his secondary offerings.
He’s leaned on the support of his teammates and staff, saying there are “a lot of guys behind me that have my back and let me know it’s there,” reminding him of how much recent success he’s had.
“There are so many ebbs and flows on how it’s going to go just watching this game and watching other guys’ careers,” said Francis. “There are always tons of peaks and valleys, and I feel like there’s value in the valleys. It’s frustrating. But I keep learning from these kinds of outings. Hopefully they don’t last long, but just keep posting, keep working between the starts, try to find a way.”
And so, as the search for answers continues, Bassitt commended the club for “basically just trusting him that we’re going to figure it out,” Walker for being “unbelievable,” and adding that this blip for his rotation-mate is “understanding this is part of the punch.”
“Sending a guy down and moving a guy because they’re struggling, that’s not how you develop someone into being a good big-leaguer. It’s just not,” said Bassitt. “What drives me crazy is the so-called protecting a guy. Even in the minor leagues, you see a guy give up five or six runs over two, three innings, and all of a sudden it’s like, hey, we’re going to pull him. No. You’re at 50 pitches, you have 50 more pitches, go pitch and figure it out. If you’re not trying to figure it out in double-A and you’re not trying to figure it out in triple-A and you’re constantly protecting guys, you’re literally not helping in any way.
“So I feel like the Blue Jays do a really, really good job of, if you’re going to get exposed, go get exposed, we know long-term that’s going to help you,” added Bassitt. “We’re grown men. We can take the so-called punches on the chin. Go figure it out.”
And that’s exactly what the Blue Jays’ plan seems to be for Francis.
