Players · F · Pitcher · 2025

Bowden Francis

Age: 29
B/T: R/R
Height: 6' 5"
Weight: 220 lb
Number: #44

Born: April 22, 1996 in Tallahassee, FL, United States
MLB debut: April 27, 2022
Drafted: 2016, round 18
College: Chipola JC

dbWAR: -.2
IP: 64.0
ERA: 6.05
FIP: 6.85
K/9: 7.6
FIP−: 165

Bowden Francis was a starting pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays. In 2025 he struck out 54 batters over 64.0 innings across 14 appearances, 14 of them starts, going 2-8. His ERA of 6.05 was 45.4% higher than the league average of 4.16 — the second worst on his team, and 478th of 542 among MLB pitchers with 20+ innings. Stripping out defence, his 6.85 FIP suggests that his ERA had some help behind him. He missed bats on 23.3% of swings (10.9% of every pitch he threw), walked 9.4% of the batters he faced and struck out 18.8%. His -1.2 dbWAR is built from that FIP rather than runs allowed, so it credits him for what he controls and not for the defence behind him.

League context

Percentile among qualified pitchers, 2025.

FIP6.85

K/97.6

WHIP1.53

WAR-1.2

WAR by season

Pitching

Standard and advanced, by season.


2025	TOR	14	14	64.0	2	8	0	71	43	54	27	6.05	6.85	1.53	7.6	3.8	145	165	-1.2
2024	TOR	27	13	103.2	8	5	0	74	38	92	22	3.30	4.36	0.93	8.0	1.9	81	107	0.6
2023	TOR	20	0	36.1	1	0	1	22	7	35	8	1.73	3.86	0.83	8.7	2.0	40	89	0.4
2022	TOR	1	0	0.2	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0.00	0.11	1.50	13.5	0.0	0	3	0.0

Platoon splits

How left- and right-handed hitters fare against him.

Season

Opponent batting by the side the hitter bats from, 2025. Counted from play-by-play, so totals can differ from the box-score season line by a plate appearance or two.
Split	PA	AB	H	HR	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	wOBA	K%
vs LHB	161	138	41	14	19	30	.297	.373	.630	.417	18.6%
vs RHB	127	113	30	5	8	24	.265	.346	.425	.342	18.9%

Pitch sequencing

What Bowden Francis throws in each count, and what he follows each pitch with. Select any cell for the breakdown.

ShowBatter

Four-seamSplitterCurveballSliderSinker

Select a count to see exactly what Bowden Francis throws in it.

Pitch arsenal

What he throws, how hard, how often it misses, and what hitters do with it.

Season


Four-Seam Fastball	56.0%	639	92.5	2,253	48.2%	15.1%	157	.280	.834
Splitter	22.4%	256	82.2	1,017	39.5%	36.8%	62	.242	.900
Curveball	14.0%	160	73.7	2,195	40.6%	40.0%	18	.444	1.524
Slider	5.8%	66	82.7	2,433	42.4%	37.9%	14	—	—
Sinker	1.8%	20	91.5	2,132	55.0%	14.3%	1	—	—

Bowden Francis's arsenal by usage. Velocity is average release speed in mph, spin in rpm, and whiff rate is misses per swing — the cleanest single measure of whether a pitch beats hitters. BAA and OPS are what hitters did against each pitch, credited to the one that ended the plate appearance, and are left blank under 15 at-bats.

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Similar players

Nearest 2025 seasons by command, run prevention and role, on rate statistics rather than totals.

Gunnar HoglundATH

ERA: 6.40
FIP: 6.75
SO: 23
WAR: -0.6

Very close

Carson WhisenhuntSF

ERA: 5.01
FIP: 6.91
SO: 16
WAR: -0.5

Caden DanaLAA

ERA: 6.40
FIP: 6.48
SO: 33
WAR: -0.5

Comparable

Osvaldo BidoATH

ERA: 5.87
FIP: 6.07
SO: 68
WAR: -1.0

Comparable

How these are computed

wOBA uses linear weights measured from this season's own play-by-play rather than published constants, and wRC+ is park-adjusted against that same league. dbWAR is our own open implementation — not fWAR or bWAR — and the full derivation, including its simplifications, is on the methodology page.