Francis pitched to a 1.53 ERA whlile limiting opponents to a .422 OPS and striking out 26.5% of batters faced over his final nine starts of 2025. The Nationals have struck out a league-high 39 times and have the highest K-rate in the MLB through Opening Weekend. Francis should be effective enough to, at the very least, match this number on tonight. He had five or more strikeouts in seven of his last nine starts in 2024 and had six or more six times.
Francis pitched to a 1.53 ERA whlile limiting opponents to a .422 OPS and striking out 26.5% of batters faced over his final nine starts of 2025. The Nationals have struck out a league-high 39 times and have the highest K-rate in the MLB through Opening Weekend. Francis should be effective enough to, at the very least, match this number on tonight. He had five or more strikeouts in seven of his last nine starts in 2024 and had six or more six times.
From August 7 to September 24 of last season, Bowden Francis struck out a batter per inning and posted a 1.53 ERA across nine starts. He allowed just 24 hits across 59 innings. He is stretched out and gets to face a young Washington Nationals lineup that is striking out 34.5% of the time. While that is an incredibly small sample, it's the highest rate in baseball. Francis will be at home, which always helps, and when he is on, he can be unhittable. Add in Washington's swing-and-miss tendencies, and Francis could have a very tidy start. I wanted his Over 4.5 Ks at -135, but just in case his leash isn't 90 pitches, the Under hits allowed prop has multiple paths for a winner. THE BAT is projecting 15.9 outs for the Toronto Blue Jays starter, who could be one of the team's best pitchers this year.