Blue Jays' Francis named AL Pitcher of the Month
Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Bowden Francis has been named American League Pitcher of the Month for August. Photo: Toronto Blue Jays/Twitter
September 3, 2024
Official Major League Baseball News Release
Starting pitcher Blake Snell of the San Francisco Giants has been voted the National League Pitcher of the Month for August, and starting pitcher Bowden Francis of the Toronto Blue Jays has been named the American League Pitcher of the Month for August.
The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.
Snell earned his fifth career Pitcher of the Month award after previously winning twice last year (June and September/October); and twice in 2018 (August and September), both of his Cy Young Award-winning seasons. He is the first Giants pitcher to win the award since Kevin Gausman in May 2021. Snell is the 15th Giants pitcher (18th occurrence) to win the award overall, and the first Giants left-hander to win the award since Madison Bumgarner won in August 2014.
Francis earned his first career honour and is the second Blue Jays pitcher to win this season, joining his rotation-mate José Berríos, who won in March/April. Overall, he is the 13th Toronto pitcher (20th occurrence) to win the award.
Blake Snell, San Francisco Giants (@snellzilla4)
• Across six starts, the 31-year-old went 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA, 53 strikeouts, 16 walks, a 0.83 WHIP, a .125 opponents’ average and 12.44 strikeouts per 9.0 innings.
• The Seattle native led the majors in strikeouts; ranked third in opponents’ average; fifth in WHIP; tied for fifth in innings pitched; and sixth in ERA.
• The southpaw threw a no-hitter on August 2 at Cincinnati, marking the Giants' first no-hitter since Chris Heston on June 9, 2015. Snell permitted three walks with 11 strikeouts as he pitched into the ninth inning for the first time in his career. He retired the first five batters in order before allowing a walk to Jeimer Candelario in the second inning. After walking Tyler Stephenson and TJ Friedl in the fifth inning, he went on to retire the contest’s final 12 batters in order. According to Elias, Snell is just the fifth reigning Cy Young Award winner to throw a no-hitter, joining Jake Arrieta (2015, NL); Clayton Kershaw (2013, NL); Hall of Famer Bob Gibson (1970, NL); and Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax (1963, NL).
• The defending NL Cy Young winner is one of four pitchers with at least 50 strikeouts in a month this season, joining Garrett Crochet (56 SO in June); Tyler Glasnow (53 SO in March/April); and Jack Flaherty (50 SO in March/April). Snell is the first Giants pitcher with at least 50 strikeouts in a single month since Carlos Rodón also struck out 53 in July 2022.
• The 2018 AL Cy Young winner threw at least six innings in five of his six starts and went at least seven innings in three of the starts. He closed out the month allowing one run on four hits with eight strikeouts across seven innings at Oracle Park on August 30. Prior to the start, he had not allowed a run in four straight home starts, marking the longest such streak in Giants’ franchise history by a non-opener. He is one of 26 pitchers in NL/AL history to have four straight home starts with zero runs allowed while pitching at least five innings in each start, and the only of those pitchers to do it twice (also with SD in 2023).
Bowden Francis, Toronto Blue Jays (@bowdenfrancis33)
• Across five starts, the 28-year-old went 4-1 with a 1.05 ERA, 39 strikeouts, four walks, a 0.41 WHIP, a .089 opponents’ average and 10.22 strikeouts per 9.0 innings.
• The Florida native led the majors in ERA, opponents’ average and WHIP; tied for second in wins; and ranked 10th in strikeouts.
• The right-hander entered the month with just four career starts under his belt and finished the month on a four-game winning streak, tossing at least seven innings in all four starts and permitting just one hit in three of the starts. Francis posted a career high eight innings on August 24 against the Angels with a career-high 12 strikeouts. He is just the second pitcher in Major League history to win four straight starts while allowing six-or-fewer combined hits, joining Dylan Cease who allowed five hits during his four-game winning streak from July 13th-31st this season.
• The seventh-round selection in the 2017 Draft (by Milwaukee) carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Angels on August 24 before allowing a leadoff home run. He followed up with 5 1/3 no-hit innings to begin his start on August 29 before giving up a one-out single in the sixth inning. Francis is the first Blue Jays pitcher to throw at least five no-hit innings in back-to-back starts since R.A. Dickey on May 29 and June 3, 2016.
• The Chipola College product posted a 0.31 WHIP over his final four starts of the month, marking the lowest WHIP across a four-start span since 1901. His 0.41 WHIP in August is the lowest in a single month in Major League history among pitchers with at least four starts. Francis is one of five pitchers in the last 35 years with a game score of at least 78 (see the MLB.com glossary definition here) in four consecutive starts, joining Hall of Famer Randy Johnson, Hall of Famer Pedro Martínez, Johan Santana and Clayton Kershaw.
• Along with his rotation-mate Berríos, the tandem became the first Blue Jays pitchers since Ricky Romero in 2011 to toss at least seven innings and take the win in four consecutive starts. Romero turned the trick in five straight starts from July 27th-August 18th. Berríos accomplished the feat from August 9-26, while Francis has a chance to make it five consecutive starts when he takes the mound against Philadelphia tomorrow.