Jeff

Francis

Francis stands at 179 1/3 innings between the minors and majors this year.

The Rockies lefty went 16-3 with a 2.21 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, and 196/29 k/bb in 154 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A. He’s only owned in roughly 10 percent of fantasy leagues. How different that would be if he pitched for any other organization.

It’s the Rockies, so why would we expect anything less? Francis apparently will have to beat out Darren Oliver for his rotation spot.

The Rockies will delay their decision as to whether they will grant Francis permission to pitch in the Olympics for Canada next month, until the August 11th deadline.

He’s not pitching great, as evidenced by Saturday’s outing when he gave up four homers in a 14-7 win. However, he’s second in the league in run support, getting a whopping 7.07 runs of support per outing, second only to the 7.37 runs per game Matt Morris is getting from the Cardinals offense.

Francis had been 10-2 with a 3.47 ERA in 13 career starts at Coors. His ERA stands at 4.17 now.

Francis gave up seven hits, walked three, and hit a batter. Francis left in the sixth with runners on first and second and one out. Reliever Sunny Kim allowed one of the inherited runners to score, leaving Francis charged with five runs. Francis had been stellar at home and poor on the road for most of the season, but he’s allowed 13 earned runs over his last two starts at Coors Field.

Francis gave up just one walk and six hits, but a pair of Juan Encarnacion homers scored three runs. He had been pitching very well lately by allowing more than three runs just once in his last 10 starts. He’ll get the Rangers at Coors Field next time out.

Francis had been struggling this year, and even after yesterday’s performance, he still has a 5.03 ERA in 17 starts for Visalia. The 22-year-old lefty was the ninth overall pick in last year’s draft.

Francis had a no-hitter through five innings, but a blooper to center by Aaron Hill quickly ended that bid to start the sixth. The Blue Jays added three more hits in the inning but managed to score just one run as they saw two runners get thrown out at home. Francis now sports a 3.07 ERA and hasn’t yielded more than three runs in six straight outings. NL-only leaguers can use him against the Giants at AT&T park next week.