Bowden Francis earns AL Player of the Week honour

Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Bowden Francis heads home from the road trip with two impressive starts on his record and some new hardware for the mantle.

The Jays pitcher was named the AL Player of the Week by Major League Baseball for last week after his latest outings against the Los Angeles Angels and the Chicago Cubs that helped the club win two games on the road.

In his third start since returning from triple-A, Francis toed the rubber for the opening contest against the Angels and shoved – pitching seven innings deep while allowing just one hit, one run (a solo homer) while striking out eight with zero walks.

The 28-year-old’s only blemish was a solo home run in the bottom of the third, an 0-1 offering that Mickey Moniak to right field, but that would be the only hit he would allow on the day. Outside of the home run, Francis faced the minimum number of batters before getting pulled after 81 pitches. He generated nine swing-and-misses and finished with a 70.3% strike rate on the day.

Bowden Francis named AL Player of the Week

His second outing was yesterday afternoon at Wrigley Field, with Francis being tasked to save the Jays from getting swept by the Cubs.

When the dust settled, the Florida product stood tall and produced another quality start, logging seven innings with three hits allowed but putting up a zero on the board. Francis also kept hitters off balance with seven punchouts on the day and fielding a clean sheet in the walk category. Francis was able to go a bit further into the game in terms of pitch count (95) and finished with a 74.7% strike rate.