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Command Performance
Rockies Pitcher Jeff Francis Wins Baseball America's Minor League Player Of The Year Award
September 9, 2004
Jeff Francis Feature: Throwing With Conviction 
DURHAM, N.C.--Lefthander Jeff Francis, who dominated two hitters' leagues and finished the season in the majors, is Baseball America's 2004 Minor League Player of the Year, as selected by the magazine's staff. Francis, 23, becomes the first Rockies prospect to win the award in the organization's 11-year history. He's the seventh pitcher to win the award and the first since righthander Josh Beckett (Marlins) in 2001, and the first Canadian to win it as well. We could not be happier with Jeff and his progress this past season," Rockies farm director Bill Geivett said. "He has dominated minor league baseball, and we are looking forward to watching him have great success at the major league level. "The Rockies have been blessed with more than our share of 2004 postseason individual performance awards, but none can compete with the prestige attached to Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year." Francis was the minors' most dominant pitcher from midway in the 2003 season through 2004. A first-round pick (ninth overall) in 2002 out of the University of British Columbia, his first professional season ended early after he was struck in the head with a line drive while sitting in the dugout in low Class A Asheville. Last season, after 10 starts at high Class A Visalia, he had a 2-7, 7.42 mark and had lasted just 47 innings, giving up 59 hits and 19 walks while striking out 42. His career turned the corner when he realized he needed to throw his pitches "with conviction." Over his final 17 starts last year, he went 10-2, 1.83, allowing just 76 hits and 26 walks in 113 innings while striking out 111. He kept up that kind of performance in 2004, starting with Double-A Tulsa in the Texas League. Managers in the TL named him the league's Best Pitcher and owner of the Best Fastball in BA's midseason Best Tools survey, and he went 13-1, 1.98 for the Drillers, striking out 147 and walking just 22. Opponents batted .180 against him. He continued his dominance with Triple-A Colorado Springs, going 3-2, 2.85 with a similarly sterling 49-7 strikeout-walk ratio. Francis has since joined the Rockies' big league rotation and got his first victory Sept. 5 against the San Diego Padres. THE JEFF FRANCIS FILE Born: Vancouver, B.C., Jan. 8, 1981. Home: Sammamish, Wash. Height: 6-5. Weight: 200. Bats-Throws: L-L. Career Highlights: Drafted ninth overall in 2002, second-highest draft position ever for a Canadian behind fellow British Columbia native Adam Loewen, who was drafted five sports ahead of him by the Orioles . . . First player from the University of British Columbia, Canada’s only NAIA baseball program, to reach the major leagues . . . While pursuing physics degree, he set school records for starts (42), wins (25), ERA (2.36), complete games (13) and shutouts (7) . . . Went 12-3, 0.92 in 2001 to earn NAIA all-America honors . . . Emerged as a top prospect during the summer of 2001 with the Anchorage Bucs of the Alaska League, winning league player of the year after going 7-1, 1.20 with 83 strikeouts in 76 innings . . . Joined Anchorage Glacier Pilots for National Baseball Congress World Series and was MVP of the tournament with 14 scoreless innings, leading Glacier Pilots to their fifth NBC World Series title . . . First professional season in 2002 ended early after he was struck in the head with a line drive while sitting in the dugout in Asheville; left with a concussion, he returned in time to pitch in instructional league . . . After 10 starts at high Class A Visalia in 2003, had a 2-7, 7.42 mark and had lasted just 47 innings, giving up 59 hits and 19 walks while striking out 42. Over his final 17 starts, he went 10-2, 1.83, allowing just 76 hits and 26 walks in 113 innings while striking out 111 . . . Dominant stretch included July 6 no-hitter against Modesto, followed by 15 scoreless innings in California League playoffs, including a three-hit shutout win against Stockton . . . Rockies’ No. 3 prospect entering 2004 . . . Dominated at two levels in Rockies system this season before making major league debut Aug. 26 in Atlanta.
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