Discovery & rediscovery: Francis, Vlad Jr. emerge as '24 bright spots

TORONTO -- The lights don’t go out until a season loses its ability to pleasantly surprise you.

This party has been over for months now, but these games still need to mean something. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bowden Francis have been those two bulbs keeping the front porch illuminated, a pair of success stories in a season that’s been starved for them.

Tuesday night’s 6-5, 10-inning loss to the Red Sox, which eventually fell apart in the bullpen’s hands, was the finale of Francis’ excellent season. It ended on a different planet than it began. Francis spent the early months of the season bouncing between identities, often to the benefit of the Blue Jays, but rarely to the benefit of himself. Since returning to the rotation in late July, though, Francis has been a revelation.

Francis’ 3.30 ERA over 103 2/3 innings is a fine line to enter the offseason with, but it’s his 1.80 ERA over 65 innings as a starter down the stretch that have changed everything. Three months ago, we would have called it a “success” if Francis had entered the offseason as a useful swingman for 2025. Now, that’s someone else’s job; Francis has a higher calling.

“The impression he’s left with all of us is that he’s a starting pitcher in the big leagues,” said manager John Schneider. “With what he’s accomplished through ups and downs, being optioned and being in the bullpen, he just showed his conviction to be a starter and to make adjustments. It’s been the highlight of the second half for me and for basically everyone in the room, probably everyone in the rotation, too. To see him turn into what he’s turned into, going forward, it bodes well for him and bodes well for us.”

Francis has never doubted that he could start in the big leagues, but he didn’t kick the door down, either. There’s such a sense of calm satisfaction to this for Francis now that everyone else sees what he’s believed in.

“I’m happy. I’m proud of it,” Francis said. “This [season] didn’t start the way I wanted it to, but it’s the way you finish. I tried to prove that I can be reliable every five days and that I’m comfortable starting. I went out on a good note. I want to take that into next year and help this team win a World Series.”

While Francis’ season has been defined by the discovery of something new, Guerrero’s has been defined by the rediscovery of a lost treasure. Fresh off two seasons that were good by most hitters’ standards but poor by Guerrero’s, he hovered at that same level through the first two months of the season, until everything changed. Guerrero has been reborn as one of the game’s brightest stars again, batting .324 with 30 home runs, 102 RBIs and a .945 OPS.

Guerrero is, once again, worth the price of admission all by himself … or at the very least, worth changing the channel to watch.

Nothing Francis or Guerrero has done can change how we’ll remember this season. There’s no silver lining to be painted on a season that started with World Series aspirations and ended dead last in the AL East, but they still play all 162 games and the fans in attendance didn’t stumble into Rogers Centre on a Tuesday night by accident.

Otherwise, this season has survived on a few feel-good storylines from young players who have joined the club, but many have struggled to sustain those initial bursts. Toronto’s starters have been sturdy, with José Berríos having a particularly impressive year, but that’s what fans have come to expect from the veteran group, and the depth beyond them has been thinned significantly by injuries. Daulton Varsho has been one of the best defenders in the sport, but he underwent rotator cuff surgery on Monday. The good news tends to come with a “but,” and the list of bad news is a mile long.

The 2025 roster will look much different -- at least it should -- but Guerrero and Francis are those flickers of home to cling to for now. They’ve been worth watching in a season that has sometimes tested the strength of those words, and if 2025 is going to be any different, the Blue Jays are going to need more pleasant surprises than we’ve seen this season.