Bowden Francis #44

Bowden Francis...Pronounced “bao-den”...Married to Jenna Francis and father to son, Bookerr, and daughter, Jojo...Brother of Harrison Francis, a fourth-round draft pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2017...First drafted by the Diamondbacks in the 18th round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft but did not sign...Spent two seasons at Chipola College in Marianna, Fla., combining to go 21-5 with a 3.31 ERA (59 ER/160.7 IP) and a 1.15 WHIP...Named a Rawlings Preseason All-American and Florida All-Region First Team member in 2015.

2023

Did not allow a run in 14 of his 20 Major League outings... Recalled from Triple-A Buffalo on June 6, June 24 and Aug. 3... Made his season debut on June 10 vs. MIN, tossing 2.2 innings of relief (2H, ER, HR, 3K)... Picked up his first career MLB win on June 28 vs. SF, throwing a career-high 4.0 innings of one-run relief (4H, HR, 2K)... Tossed 3.2 frames of no-hit ball on Aug. 11 (BB, 3K), extending his scoreless innings streak to a career-best 12.1IP... Earned his first professional save as he pitched the final 3.0 innings on Aug. 20 at CIN (2H, ER, 4K, HR)... Played in 10 combined Minor League contests between Triple-A Buffalo and Single-A Dunedin, posting a 2.40 ERA (8 ER/30.0 IP) with 28H, 7BB and 45K.

2022

Made 23 starts and 14 relief appearances for the Bisons, going 5-10 with a 6.59 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP... His 110 punchouts trailed only Thomas Hatch (113) for the most among Bison hurlers... Recalled from Triple-A Buffalo on April 25... Made his MLB debut on April 27 vs. BOS, giving up a hit over 0.2 innings with a punchout...Struck out Kiké Hernández for his first career K... Optioned on May 2... Pitched in nine games for Criollos de Caguas of the Puerto Rican Winter League, going 1-2 with a 1.51 ERA (6 ER/35.2 IP) and a 0.79 WHIP (19H, 47K, 9BB). 

2021

Split the first half of the 2021 season between Double-A Biloxi and Triple-A Nashville before being traded to the Blue Jays on July 6...Spent the remainder of the year with Triple-A Buffalo, going 6-4 with a 4.19 ERA (34 ER/73.0 IP) and a 1.19 WHIP across 14 games (13 starts) with the Bisons...His 1.12 WHIP in 21 Triple-A East games ranked second best in the league while his 110 strikeouts were sixth most...Added to Toronto’s 40-man roster at the end of the year to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft.