Francis off to a good start with Jays
STRONG RELIEF APPEARANCE: One-time Colorado ace knows his Major League opportunities are to be relished
TORONTO — Jeff Francis is under no illusions.
He is 34. In a baseball context, his best years are behind him. He doesn’t throw hard. And even if he happens to pitch well a time or two, there are no guarantees he will stick in the big leagues.
In the Blue Jays parts department, he is something akin to a spare tire.
Unless, perhaps, he gets the chance to keep doing what he did on Sunday, and then keeps on doing it.
“I find myself here — who knows for how long — but I’m going to try to make the best of it and contribute the best I can,” Francis said after the Jays promoted him from Buffalo because their bullpen needed a breather.
The Canadian left-hander came through with 31/3 scoreless innings, keeping the Jays within striking distance in a 5-2 loss to Atlanta.
“He really kept us in the game, really saved our bullpen,” manager John Gibbons said.
The arrival of Francis summoned another Canadian-boy-comes-home narrative, but naturally with far less fanfare than accompanied Russell Martin. Francis knows his visit may last days. Martin is guaranteed five years.
When Francis threw to Martin on Sunday, it marked the first-time the Jays have fielded an all-Canadian battery. For the moment, he joins Martin and Dalton Pompey as the Canadian contingent on Canada’s team. It could become a foursome when Michael Saunders returns from a rehab assignment.
But while Francis followed the Jays as a youth in British Columbia, the six-foot-five left-hander did not sound overly affected by the opportunity to play for them.
“I’ve played long enough though that I think it’s another opportunity for me to play baseball,” he said in matter-of-fact fashion. “The thrill of playing for the Blue Jays is something that maybe I can think about after it’s all said and done.”
In his 14th year as a pro player, he takes nothing for granted. He wants to keep playing, and with a minorleague contract and invitation to spring training, the Jays gave him that chance.
Now, with Sunday’s promotion, they have given him another.
“I don’t think it matters at what point in your career, it’s a thrill,” he said. “Your manager calls you and gives you the news and it’s like you’re 23 again.”
He was 23 when the Colorado Rockies called him up in 2004, and he went on to become their staff ace, going 17-9 in their wondrous 2007 season, winning two playoff starts and becoming the first Canadian to start a World Series game.
But shoulder surgery cost him the 2009 season, and since the start of 2012, he has become a vagabond, going where the work is. Last year he appeared in a total of 11 games for three big-league teams.
Sunday’s relief outing was better than any of last year’s. He threw his usual five-pitch assortment of soft stuff, relying on spotting the ball and using his defence.
Thirty of his 55 pitches were sinkers, averaging 87 miles an hour. That’s two clicks faster than his four-seam fastball, which he rarely throws, for obvious reasons. He mixed in a curveball, slider and change-up. When he puts his pitches in the right spots, he can be very good. When he doesn’t, he often gets hit very hard.
“There’s one way I’ve learned to do this and it’s gotten me this far,” he said. “I think you can always get better at doing the things you do. So that’s what I’ve tried to do … just to refine my skills I have and throw more quality strikes more often.”
Francis, who lives with his family in London, Ont., acknowledged that “it’s a thrill” to play with the maple leaf on his chest.
Most of all, he wants to keep playing. And while he didn’t mention this, he also aims to reach the 10-year mark in MLB service time, which would guarantee an annual pension of $100,000 or more after he retires. Entering the season, he needed 136 more days on a big-league roster to reach that goal.
If he remains with the Jays through Tuesday, that number will drop to 133. Pitching well is his only chance to hasten the countdown.