The professional journey made by first baseman Ty France is highlighted by two seasons that have resulted in at least 20 home runs as part of his game. The other part of his game is his defense at first base, which leads all of baseball this year.
A San Diego product
Drafted out of Tony Gwynn’s SDSU team by the Padres in 2015, France spent three seasons in the Padres’ minor league system. He was placed on the 40-man roster at the end of the 2018 season to avoid the Rule 5 Draft.
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Starting 2019 with Triple-A El Paso, France was called up in April and made his major league debut. He bounced back to El Paso soon after and was called back up in August for the rest of that season.
Originally playing both first and third base, France was blocked by Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer, which resulted in a trade to Seattle during the 2020 COVID season. France played for the Mariners from August 2020 to July 2024 and the slugger was an All-Star in 2022.
While trying to increase his bat speed, France tweaked his hitting mechanics, which resulted in his worst offensive season in 2024. He hit .234 with 13 home runs. Seattle then traded him in July of 2024; he finished the season with Cincinnati.
After signing as a free agent with the Minnesota Twins in February 2025, France had another subpar start, hitting .251 with six home runs. Traded to Toronto at the deadline, France played in 37 games for the Blue Jays during their playoff race. He hit .277 with one home run while reaching the World Series. He also won his first Gold Glove at season’s end.
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France excels at first base
Switching primarily to first base in the 2022 season, France took note of his poor defensive rating at the position. He spent his offseasons working on improving his defense, culminating in that first Gold Glove.
After the two seasons with offensive numbers he wasn’t satisfied with, France got back to being the hitter he had been before tweaking his mechanics.
Back home in San Diego
Signing a minor league deal in February 2026 with the team that drafted him, France was guaranteed $1.35 million if he made the Opening Day roster.
Splitting time at first and DH with Gavin Sheets during the spring, France hit .306/.352/.510 with two home runs and 12 RBI to force himself onto the Padres roster. He continued to platoon with Sheets to start the season but asserted himself as the regular starter by midseason. Besides his power surge this season, France hits equally well versus right-handed as left-handed pitching.
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In 115 games and 370 at-bats, France is hitting .295/.363/.519 with an .882 OPS, almost 100 points higher than his closest full-time teammate (Fernando Tatis Jr .794). With 20 homers and 62 RBI, France leads all Padres in average and OPS. His OBP is also the best of all regular starters. An fWAR of 3.3 also leads all Padres by a wide margin. Catcher Luis Campusano, with 56 games and 159 at-bats, is the only teammate who comes close to his production.
France could have been trade bait
With a .500 record approaching the trade deadline in July, multiple teams were expected to pursue France, but the Padres decided to add and not sell. Before that decision, MLB Network looked at what made France successful for the Padres and what other teams might covet.
While leading the Padres offensively, France has been the most consistent Friar this year. He has also shown that his defensive skills can make a real difference to a team that is trying to make the playoffs.
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Currently, France leads all first basemen in Defensive Runs Saved, a defensive metric that reflects how many runs a player saves their team compared to the average player. It includes range, arm strength, double-play ability, and errors. A rating of 10-14 is great, while 15 or above is Gold Glove caliber.
While the MLB Network analysis shows that France excels at lifting low strikes out of the ballpark, his batted-ball data also shows that he is hitting opposite field as much or more than at any other time in his career. France has credited the Padres hitting coaches with helping him stay consistent this season.
“I’ve got to give Steven [Souza Jr.] and the hitting [coaches] a lot of credit,” France said. “When things are going bad, they don’t let it fester. They just say, ‘Hey, this is what we see. This is what you’re doing. Let’s get back to this,’ or ‘Let’s try this.’ So you have to give them a lot of the credit.”
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A Sports Illustrated feature highlighted what France feels is the main reason for his breakout this year.
France has also said he would like to stay with the Padres after this season. The new ownership could make Padres fans happy by signing France, as well as reliever Adrian Morejon, to extensions after this season.
With only three weeks left in the regular schedule, no other Padre has a chance to have as much of an impact on the team this season as Ty France. This could be A.J. Preller’s best minor league acquisition ever. It is certainly his best of 2026.
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