Jays' Bassitt trolls Angels player who threw shade at Francis
Toronto Blue Jays fans witnessed an extraordinary outing by pitcher Bowden Francis on Saturday against the LA Angels, but not everybody was impressed with it.
The 28-year-old carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning and came within three outs of recording the second no-hitter in Blue Jays history before allowing a leadoff home run to Angels third baseman Taylor Ward.
Despite the impressive showing from Francis and the home run being the only hit recorded by the Angels in a 3-1 Blue Jays win, Ward threw a bit of shade after the game. He said that he didn’t believe there was “anything special” about Francis’ game and thought that he was throwing “hittable” pitches.
That struck a nerve with not only the Blue Jays fanbase but also with Toronto pitcher Chris Bassitt, who trolled Ward with a sign behind Francis while he was doing a TV interview. The message was as simple as could be, outlining Francis’ torrid stats against the Angels over the last two games.
“15 innings, 2 hits, 20 k’s, hittable + not special.”
For Immediate Release: pic.twitter.com/nv14BCD4pz
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) August 25, 2024
Fans on social media loved to see Bassitt stick up for his teammate. The Florida native has indeed torched the Angels in his last two appearances against them this season. He went seven innings and let up only one hit against them back on August 12th in a 4-2 Toronto victory.
Fair to say that the majority of Jays fans were on Bassitt’s side on this.
Give me this straight into my veins
— Armchair Commentary (@ArmchairCommen2) August 25, 2024
😂 😂
— Lindsay Dunn (@LindsayDunnTV) August 25, 2024
Bassitt’s support for his teammates is a beautiful thing! Stick it to them Chris!!!!
— Helen 🇦🇺🍻🇨🇦 (@Helen03412113) August 25, 2024
Chris bassist is fantastic 👏👏👏👏👏👏 Calling out those ridiculous comments!!!!
— Melissa (@mcbluejays81) August 25, 2024
BODYBAG THAT BUM
— Fluffy (@FluffyShark01) August 25, 2024
Chris Bassitt is the teammate everyone wants.
— Kelly (@KellyLNL) August 25, 2024
Wow what a king
— Cari (@carinaabee_x) August 25, 2024
— Rob78🇨🇦🇮🇹 (@roblongarini1) August 25, 2024
This is awesome
— Shane Maddock (@maddock_17) August 25, 2024
No matter what Ward says, there is no denying that Francis has had the Angels number this year. Both he and Bassitt know that.