Fastball

Toronto Blue Jays Starting Pitcher Made Even More History This Week

After another dominant start on Thursday for the Blue Jays, the historic numbers just keep rolling in for Bowden Francis.

Brady Farkas

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Bowden Francis (44) pitches to the Los Angeles Angels during the sixth inning at Rogers Centre in 2024.
Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Bowden Francis (44) pitches to the Los Angeles Angels during the sixth inning at Rogers Centre in 2024. / John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
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Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Bowden Francis made even more history than originally thought this week after he threw a dominant 7.0 shutout innings against the Boston Red Sox on Thursday.

We told you already that Francis has the lowest WHIP in the Modern-Era over a four-start span, but there's multiple other records in team history that he's tied or broken.

Per @StatsCentre on social media:

Most strikeouts in a pitcher's first 9 career MLB starts - @BlueJays franchise history:
56- Bowden Francis (Via 5 in 7 innings of work on Friday night against the Red Sox)
56- Alek Manoah
47- Ricky Romero
47- Sean Reid-Foley
46- Trent Thornton
44- Mark Rzepczynski
42- Juan Guzman

There's also this one with regards to hits allowed:

(Related) Most consecutive starts in a season by a #BlueJays pitcher with 3 or fewer hits allowed (minimum of 5+ innings pitched in each game):
5- Francis (Aug 7-present)
4- Marco Estrada (Jul 30-Aug 15, 2015)
4- Ryan Borucki (Sep 4-23, 2018)
4- Roger Clemens (Aug 20-Sep 5, 1998)

Anytime you can pass Roger Clemens on a list in team history, you've done something right. Clemens won multiple Cy Young Awards during his time in Toronto.

The 28-year-old, who was fighting for a roster spot out of spring training, is now 8-3 on the season. He's got a 3.66 ERA and has given the Jays a very solid 78.2 innings this year.

Francis was a former seventh-round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2017 draft out of a Florida junior college. He made his major league debut in 2022 but had just 21 appearances heading into this season.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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