As Francis and Loperfido shine, vision for '25 gets clearer

CHICAGO -- Tucked inside Sunday’s 1-0 win over the Cubs, which won’t do much to change this season’s path, the Blue Jays picked up a couple of wins that could count in 2025.

These aren’t the wins the Blue Jays wanted to be counting at this point in August, but these games need to count for something. Bowden Francis and Joey Loperfido, each with so much at stake individually, showed us exactly what this organization cares about in the final six weeks of the season.

Francis had his finest day in the big leagues, throwing seven shutout innings with seven strikeouts at Wrigley Field. Coming off seven innings of one-run ball against the Angels last week, this is the best stretch of Francis’ career and he finally looks like a pitcher ready to run with a spot in the rotation. It’s just taken a while to get to this point.

Opening the season, Francis lasted just two turns through the rotation, rocked by the Yankees and Astros in back-to-back outings. Yariel Rodríguez loomed from the very beginning, which made the Blue Jays’ decision to slide Francis back into a versatile bullpen role understandable, but with the recent trade of Yusei Kikuchi, that door has swung wide open for Francis again.

“It’s tough to go back and forth,” manager John Schneider said. “What we asked of him early in the year, it’s tough to do. I think that from Spring Training, he wanted to be a starter. It didn’t work out at the beginning, but he’s getting a chance now and he’s kind of taking it and running with it. It’s way easier when you know your routine, when you’re pitching, who you’re going up against. He’s done a really good job.”

Francis, thoughtful and introspective as ever, described not only the shift required as a pitcher, but as a person. A “starter’s personality,” as he puts it, is “something different.”

“I can control the game at a speed for me,” Francis said after a long pause. “I can slow the game down. I can speed it up if I want to. When you come in as a reliever, the game is already set at a tempo. The hitters are toeing in differently. As a starter, you can play more chess. Relievers, it’s more like checkers.”

Francis, like Loperfido, can change the shape of the Blue Jays’ offseason with how he finishes 2024. The Blue Jays still have their trio of veterans locked in -- José Berríos, Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt -- but this organization needs depth alongside Rodríguez. There’s been little good news to scrape together from Blue Jays pitching prospects and No. 4 prospect Ricky Tiedemann could miss all of next season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in late July.

Any front office worth its weight in spreadsheets should be able to find cost-effective, multi-inning relievers, but legitimate depth starters are still pricy, particularly as injuries seem to be stretching clubs’ rotation depth more by the year. Even if Francis’ arrival comes later than many expected, his timing could still be fantastic for the Blue Jays.

Loperfido stands on similar ground to Francis, brought over by the same Kikuchi deal that’s allowed Francis to shine.

Loperfido launched his first home run with the Blue Jays on a pitch that had no business being hit out, a fastball that was up above the zone from Shota Imanaga.

Looking to 2025, the Blue Jays need to add multiple bats to their lineup, with left field being a logical place to add more power. Loperfido was batting just .140 with a .364 OPS over his first 12 games with the Blue Jays coming into Sunday, so there are still miles to go, but if he can prove that he’s able to be part of the solution immediately, then the Blue Jays can allocate some of their ‘25 budget away from left field to find an impact bat elsewhere.

“All of these guys have had my back through what was a tough couple of weeks,” Loperfido said. “They were all pumped up when I came back into the dugout. All game, they were saying, “Good at-bats.” To come through for those guys, especially in what ended up a 1-0 game, felt good. Not knowing those guys too well and coming in here and struggling, them having my back means a lot to me.”

That’s what all of this is about: giving the Blue Jays’ front office a shot at taking a big swing in the offseason … not just trying to hit a few singles again.