Jeff Francis set to return 15 months after surgery

Jeff Francis last started a regular season game in September of 2008, but the Rockies left-hander is scheduled to rejoin the rotation Sunday nearly 15 months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder. Francis’ first minor league rehab start didn’t go very well last week, but he tossed seven shutout innings in his second outing Tuesday at Double-A and will come off the disabled list to face the Nationals. “A lot of time has passed since the last time I pitched,” Francis told Jack Etkin of InsideTheRockies.com. “I look forward to being out there and helping this team win a bunch of ballgames.” Francis was a big part of the Rockies’ run to the World Series in 2007, going 17-9 with a 4.22 ERA in the regular season and 2-1 in the playoffs, but logged 232 innings after previously never topping 200 and went 4-10 with a 5.01 ERA in 2008 before shutting things down.