John Schneider Upsets Blue Jays Fans With Message After Phillies Loss originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Bowden Francis (2-8, 6.05 ERA) was having a rough season before Saturday’s bout with the Philadelphia Phillies, but he appeared to be on track after tossing a scoreless three innings to open the contest. What followed is what sports fans call a “meltdown.”
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With the Blue Jays up 1-0, Francis retired Kyle Schwarber and Alec Bohm before walking Nick Castellanos and Max Kepler. Then, the 29-year-old hit J.T. Realmuto with a pitch, walked Bryson Stott to bring in a run, and hit Otto Kemp to bring in another run. Toronto manager John Schneider had seen enough after that.
The Blue Jays’ bullpen allowed just one run the rest of the contest, but that was enough for the Phillies to beat them 3-2. Schneider defended Francis postgame, via MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson.
Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Bowden Francis (44)© Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
“Yeah. I think we need him [to stay at the big-league level],” he said. “He’s working his [expletive] off with [pitching coach] Pete [Walker]. I think he’s going to take what he did before the walks in the fourth inning and build off of it.”
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Francis pitched six games for Triple-A Buffalo last season, but has made all 14 of his starts in the big leagues this year.
Toronto fans on social media aren’t pleased.
“He’s going to get another start!? Come on,” one said. “He’s killing the bullpen, and that hurts the team big time.”
“Yep, let’s just give away a game every five days, that also taxes the bullpen,” another said. “Did this team not learn from 2021? These games matter.”
“John Schneider is half of this team’s problem,” another said.
“Unserious ball club if Bowden Francis makes another major league start before the All-Star break,” another said.
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“He can’t be serious…” another said.
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 14, 2025, where it first appeared.