Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Bowden Francis has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to right forearm extensor tendinitis. The club has recalled left-hander Brendon Little from Triple-A Buffalo in a corresponding move. Francis interestingly pitched two scoreless innings out of the bullpen for the Jays in their loss to the Royals on Wednesday but will seemingly miss some time moving forward. The 28-year-old cracked the rotation out of spring training but struggled out of the gate and has recently pitched in a multi-inning bullpen role. He has struggled to an 8.59 ERA across five outings (two starts) while allowing four home runs in 14 2/3 innings, good for a bloated 2.45 HR/9 clip.

The Toronto Blue Jays informed right-hander Bowden Francis on Thursday that he has made their Opening Day starting rotation. The Jays are tentatively targeting the fourth game of the season for Francis' first 2024 start on March 31 against the Tampa Bay Rays. Francis is essentially taking Alek Manoah's (shoulder) spot in Toronto's rotation to start the year after Manoah developed a shoulder injury in camp. The 27-year-old posted a 3.38 ERA, four walks and 15 strikeouts in 18 2/3 Grapefruit League innings to win the rotation spot to open the year. Francis will be making his first career start to begin the season after pitching in 21 games out of Toronto's bullpen over the last two years. He's now in play as a riser in AL-only leagues.

MLB.com's Keegan Matheson suggests that right-hander Bowden Francis feels like the front-runner for the final rotation spot to open the year after posting a 1.73 ERA over 36 1/3 innings last year. "He added the splitter this year, which I think will be good against lefties to go with his heater and curveball," manager John Schneider said. "I think it's just about seeing what his stuff does. We tried to do this a bit last year as camp went on, trying to get him up to 50-60 pitches. His stuff is so good in short spurts, but can you harness that as you get your pitch count up?" Francis' main competition is Mitch White, but the team's No. 13 prospect, right-hander Chad Dallas, could be a dark-horse candidate. Of course, if Alek Manoah (shoulder) isn't ready for the start of the year, both Francis and White could be in the Opening Day rotation.

Both Toronto Blue Jays pitchers Mitch White and Bowden Francis are being built up as starters in spring training. Cuban right-hander Yariel Rodriguez is also coming to camp as a starter, but he needs more time to get extended after not pitching at all in affiliated ball in 2023. The 29-year-old White could have an edge on the team's final roster spot in either a starting or relief role, but a spot in the bullpen is more likely. The main reason that White could break camp with the team this spring is that he's out of minor-league options. Most likely, he'll be a swing man in 2024. Francis, 27, has been mostly a starter in the minors, but all 21 of his big-league outings have come out of the bullpen. He's been great in 37 MLB relief innings, too, posting a 1.70 ERA and 0.84 WHIP, so he could become an intriguing AL-only streamer if he's making starts for Toronto in 2024.

Toronto Blue Jays right-handed pitching prospect Bowden Francis, who came to Toronto in 2021 alongside Trevor Richards in the Rowdy Tellez trade, held his own in 2023 and posted a 1.73 ERA with 35 strikeouts and just eight walks in 36 1/3 innings in his first taste of the big leagues. His curveball is a legitimate plus pitch. Francis has earned a shot at starting again and could compete for the No. 5 starting-rotation spot in spring training. A trip to Triple-A Buffalo to begin the 2024 is most likely, but he'd be the next man up for the big-league rotation in that scenario. He could open the year as Toronto's bullpen swingman as well, which is a role he's grown comfortable with. Either way, Francis is going to pitch meaningful innings for the Jays in 2024