Francis beginning to run away with fifth starter's job

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- The stars are aligning for Bowden Francis. The timing, the talent and the opportunity are all right there.

We saw flashes of this in 2023, when Francis was quietly one of the Blue Jays’ best relievers, but he’s always been a starter. He’s built to start -- tall and strong -- but Francis’ mental game has made the difference. He simply doesn’t speak like other pitchers.

After Francis’ last Grapefruit League outing on Thursday, he paused to collect his thoughts and then speak of manifestation and breath work, not fastball velocity. He gets to that eventually, but the mind comes first.

“When I was early in pro ball, it would blow up,” Francis said. “In 2018, I had a lot of blow ups. I would either strike out 10 or give up 10 hits. It was all over the place. That’s when I kind of dove into the mental side of it, because that’s what I was lacking. I pound the zone, but there were times when two guys would get on and all of the sudden it’s three runs, four runs. It snowballed. Now, I don’t let the game speed up on me.”

Finding a Francis fan isn’t difficult here in Dunedin. The Blue Jays’ staff has long loved his upside, but it’s the praise he gets from his fellow starters that stands out most. The veterans of this rotation don’t just hand out empty praise; it has to be earned. That’s what Francis is doing, and with it becoming obvious that Alek Manoah won’t be ready to open the season as the fifth starter, Francis is clearly the next man up.

Now he needs to stretch back out from the reliever -- who posted a 1.73 ERA in 2023 -- to a starter.

“The stuff obviously needs to stay,” Francis said. “The heater needs to stay in that mid-90s range. Even when it is 92, though, I think it is still sneaky.”

In Francis’ last spring start, he was living near 94-95 mph, but dropped down below that in the final frame. This will come, especially given Francis’ physical build. The Blue Jays aren’t exactly asking him to throw 300 innings, either. As long as he can get through an opposing lineup at least twice and keep the game within reach, that’s an outcome plenty of clubs would love from their No. 5.

• Projecting the Blue Jays' Opening Day roster

“He does a good job of mixing things, regardless of where he is in his pitch count,” manager John Schneider said. “It’s about velo, then how he’s executing his stuff. Is he locating it? He could still be throwing 97 mph in the fourth inning, but it’s right down the middle. We want to see a little bit of both. So far, so good for him.”

Rodriguez still ramping up, will debut Sunday
Yariel Rodriguez is the X-factor in all of this. He’ll make his Grapefruit League debut in one of Toronto’s two games Sunday, pitching roughly two innings. Then, he’ll keep building up.

“More than a couple of innings is the plan initially,” Schneider said. “If we need to adjust, we adjust. His first outing will be two innings and he’ll get another start in camp, which will be more than that. We’re trying to build him up, not just for the season, but strategically with the year that he had -- or didn’t have -- last year. Ideally, he gets up to five innings.”

A start in Triple-A still feels very possible for Rodriguez. This wouldn’t be a demotion by any means, just a continuation of his build-up for the season ahead after a late start to camp that was slowed by back spasms. He could fill almost any role on this roster in 2024, from starter to bulk guy or one-inning reliever.

Berríos rolling, integrating cutter
José Berríos looks good … really good.

The right-hander came into camp in phenomenal shape and looks well ahead of the hitters already. He’s also been working to add a cutter, which is still a work in progress but one he’s feeling better about each start.

“It’s another great pitch for my arsenal,” Berríos said. “It’s another weapon to bring into the war. I think we can put together [a plan]. I don’t want to say how, because I don’t want to let people know, but we can use that pitch in a good combination with the others.”

Depending on Kevin Gausman’s timeline as he ramps back up from shoulder fatigue, Berríos could be the Opening Day starter, and he’s done everything to earn that title here in camp.