Jays' Schneider on Francis' continued struggles: 'We need him'

The Toronto Blue Jays suffered a loss in another poor game for starting pitcher Bowden Francis on Saturday, and there doesn't seem to be an easy answer in sight for the team.

Francis was cruising early, perhaps appearing to turn the corner after a run of short, unsuccessful starts through the end of May and into June. He was one out away from working four scoreless innings against the dangerous Philadelphia Phillies when things unravelled.

After retiring the first two batters of the fourth inning, Francis couldn't put away Nick Castellanos with two strikes, walking the slugger before allowing the next four batters to reach on two walks and two batters hit by pitch - forcing in two runs without a ball hit in fair play.

That forced manager John Schneider to make the long walk out to the mound, with Francis departing after having thrown only 3.2 innings.

“Yeah. We need him,” Schneider said after the game, when asked what the team's plans are for the struggling pitcher (a question he's heard all too often in recent weeks).

“I’ve said it before, but we need him and he’s been working his [butt] off with Pete [Walker]. He’s got to take what he did before the walks there in the fourth inning and build off of it. We’re going to need him to adjust through this time and keep making those adjustments.”

The abbreviated start was his sixth in a row where Francis failed to pitch six innings, and third in a row where he failed to pitch even four. It was a lack of command that did the righty in on Saturday, but that hasn't been the only problem this season.

In 14 starts this year, Francis owns a 2-8 record with a 6.05 earned-run average. His 19 home runs allowed are tied for most in the American League, and he ranks third in the AL in batters hit by a pitch (6).

Schneider felt that Francis was struggling with more than just the opposing lineup in Saturday's disappointing start.

“A little bit of circumstance from the environment and I think the delivery got a bit quick there, too,” Schneider said.

“It’s loud here, but this is the kind of atmosphere you want to play in. I think it kind of sped up on him a little bit, honestly. I haven’t really [watched the tape], but that’s what it felt like in real time. The delivery got a little quick and the arm was dragging, which led to some of the misses.”

Francis is staying positive, even as he continues to lead the AL in losses as a pitcher and the negative results continue to appear.

“I think the three [innings] outweigh the ... batters who got away,” he said after Saturday's start. “I think there’s a lot of positives I can take from that and continue to work with it.”

So what are the options for Toronto, who have vaulted themselves into the playoff conversation with a recent 11-5 stretch? 

Trades are always there - with two recent examples across the majors giving examples of what a trade to boost pitching depth could look like.

The Chicago White Sox parted with struggling slugger Andrew Vaughn to pick up Aaron Civale from the Milwaukee Brewers, while the Boston Red Sox shipped superstar slugger Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants to acquire two starting pitchers in Jordan Hicks and Kyle Harrison.

The team could also elect to just wait it out, as veteran starter Max Scherzer could be nearing a return to the big league club depending on how his rehab start on Wednesday goes.

As TSN Baseball Insider Steve Phillips noted on First Up on TSN1050 on Monday, the best answer may just be to give him time to reset in the minors and find another option as a replacement.

"When Scherzer comes up, I would absolutely send Bowden Francis down [to the minors], he's gotta get mental, he's gotta get right," Phillips said.

"This notion that the way to get hitters out is to try to miss bats is not appropriate ... you've got to attack the zone, you've got to work the count, and he's trying to nibble off the plate ... and when you do that, you fall behind in the count, then when you've gotta come over the plate, the hitter can try to drive it and that's unfortunately where he gets into trouble."

The Blue Jays are 4-10 in games which Francis has started this year. That level of success is not sustainable for a team with playoff aspirations.