Major League Baseball

How slugger Ty France put it all together with the Mariners

Updated May. 11, 2022 3:25 p.m. ET

By Jordan Shusterman
FOX Sports MLB Writer

Last month, Mariners first baseman Ty France was named American League Co-Player of the Week alongside Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera.

Cabrera had reached 3,000 career hits that week and deserved to be recognized. But France’s monstrous week — 14 hits (including his first career five-hit game), three home runs and 10 RBIs in six games — was more than enough to earn him a spot alongside the future Hall of Famer for the award.

For Cabrera, this was just another award to add to his pile of accolades. In fact, it was the 15th time he has won a Player of the Week Award, not to mention his multiple MVPs, All-Star Games and Silver Slugger Awards.

But for the 27-year-old France, it was his first award of its kind at the major-league level, and it meant a lot to him. For the first time on baseball’s biggest stage, a national audience was recognizing what anyone who has played with France since he was 13 has always known: The dude just hits.

So what took so long? If hitting a baseball is the most difficult thing to do in sports, how could a player who has hit well his whole life be overlooked so many times?

In his early teens, France realized that his bat was a bit more advanced than those of the other players on the field. "I was good," he told FOX Sports. "But there was never a ‘wow’ factor. It’s not like I had blazing speed. It’s not like I was hitting the ball 420 feet every time. I was just a good baseball player."

And it’s not that France was hidden in a part of the country that isn’t heavily scouted. He played high school ball at South Hills in the Los Angeles suburb of West Covina. He ran in the same travel ball circuit as several future big leaguers, including Lucas Giolito, Rio Ruiz and Daniel Robertson.

Giolito, one of France’s teammates on the travel ball team SGV Arsenal, was a 6-foot-6 right-hander from Los Angeles’ Harvard-Westlake School and one of the more promising high school pitchers MLB teams had seen in quite some time. But while hundreds of scouts were focused on Giolito’s every pitch, the young pitcher knew his 5-foot-11 teammate probably deserved more attention.

"He was nasty," Giolito told FOX Sports of France. "He didn’t get the most love as a high school pro prospect because of his size, but you could tell early on that he just barreled balls constantly. He had that ‘it’ factor as a hitter."

Yet because France’s physical tools were lacking compared to some of his more athletically gifted peers, he wasn’t invited to as many national showcases where scouts could see his skills on display against top competition. And so while Giolito (16th overall pick by the Nationals), Robertson (34th overall pick by the Athletics) and Ruiz (fourth-round pick by the Astros) were selected early in the 2012 MLB Draft, France headed to San Diego State to find out if his advanced hitting as a prep player would carry over to the collegiate level.

Waiting for him at SDSU was Tony Gwynn, who took over as head coach in 2003, shortly after his playing career ended, and built the program into a perennial contender in the Mountain West Conference. Having a Hall of Famer as a coach will surely have a significant impact on any player. But for someone as passionate about hitting as France, who better to have as a mentor than Tony Gwynn?

They shared a strong bond until Gwynn’s untimely death in June 2014, and France cherishes the time he spent with Mr. Padre.

After a standout freshman campaign in which he started every game at third base for the Aztecs and hit .317/.417/.450, France had momentum heading into his first experience in a summer wood bat league. He won the Cal Ripken Collegiate League batting title, hitting .331 in 35 games for the Bethesda Big Train.

That fall, however, he suffered a torn labrum — though he didn’t realize he had torn it until months later.

"I didn't know until three to four weeks into the sophomore season — and I was hitting .430 at the time — when I actually found out that it was torn," he said.

At that point, France had played too many games to declare a medical redshirt and regain a year of eligibility. He needed surgery, but the shoulder wasn’t limiting him on the field. So he decided to just monitor the injury and play through it, and ultimately, he had the best of his three seasons at SDSU, hitting .356/.450/.498 with more walks than strikeouts.

"We lost in the regional, and two days later I had surgery," France said.

The surgery was a success, though it cost him the opportunity to play summer ball before his junior spring, which is often when college players with pro aspirations put themselves on the draft radar. Still, France was fully healthy by the time the season began, and he continued to produce for an excellent Aztecs squad that won the Mountain West all three of France’s years on the team.

Even with his impressive stats, though, France was realistic heading into the 2015 MLB Draft. He knew pro teams preferred players with more tools and greater defensive chops than he offered, so he wasn’t expecting to be a first-round pick.

"My agent at the time told me, ‘We expect you to go anywhere in Rounds 3-7,’" France said. "So that’s where I had my mind set."

Rounds 3-7 passed. Nothing. Rounds 7-10 passed. Nothing.

"Day 1 went by, Day 2 went by, Day 3, and I’m like, ‘Yo, what’s going on?’" France recalled.

Finally, the Padres called and selected France in the 34th round, with the 1,017th overall pick.

How does a hitter with a career line of .337/.432/.473 in more than 800 collegiate plate appearances fall to the 34th round?

It’s possible that teams assumed France would go back to school, especially considering that he was just 20 on draft day (young for a junior) and might have more leverage after another strong college season. He could’ve done that, but France suspected that San Diego State wasn’t going to be very good the next year, and playing on a bad team wouldn’t do much for his draft stock. (That hunch proved to be correct, as after losing France and four other players to the 2015 draft, the Aztecs sunk to 21-38 in 2016 and missed the postseason for the first time since 2012.)

Instead, France knew his best move was to get into pro ball and start showing the whole world that he could hit.

Hit he did, and France found himself at Triple-A El Paso — just a phone call away from San Diego — shortly after his 24th birthday in 2018. He hit well down the stretch for the Chihuahuas that season, posting a .914 OPS in 25 games and setting himself up to compete for the Padres’ third-base job the following spring.

Or so he thought.

"I was having a good spring, expecting to make the team as the Opening Day third baseman," he said. "Then, I think, two-and-a-half weeks into spring, I walk in the locker room and see that Manny [Machado] signed the megadeal."

Back to El Paso France went. Tim Hagerty, who has been the broadcaster for the Chihuahuas since their inception in 2014, had a feeling that France was about to do something special. He had seen what France was capable of in 2018 and knew that his elite ability to put the ball in play would translate perfectly to the hitter-friendly ballparks of the Pacific Coast League.

"I'm usually not good at predictions," Hagerty told FOX Sports. "But there's a tape of me in late March of 2019 saying that Ty France is my pick to win PCL MVP."

Said France: "I just basically wanted to prove a point to them that I was ready to go play in the big leagues."

In his first 19 games of that 2019 season, France hit a preposterous .418/.495/.873 with nine home runs. Point proven: He made his MLB debut on April 26.

But with the infield still awfully crowded by Machado, Eric Hosmer and a sensational rookie named Fernando Tatis Jr., regular at-bats were difficult to find.

"I never came off the bench or knew how to do that role. And it's very hard," France said. "Plus, the [pitchers] are just so much better [in MLB]. They can throw what they want, when they want, where they want. And so that was definitely an adjustment period for me."

For the first time in his life, France struggled to hit. He posted a .647 OPS in 107 plate appearances before being sent back to El Paso on June 6.

But rather than sulk about his first big-league reality check, he took it in stride.

"He was never the type of player that was salty to be in Triple-A," Hagerty said. "There was never any pouting from him, which I think was a great strength."

Over the next two months, France demolished PCL pitching. His final line — .399/.477/.770 with 27 homers and 27 doubles in 348 plate appearances — earned him the PCL MVP, just as Hagerty predicted. France’s 1.247 OPS is the highest by any minor leaguer with at least 300 plate appearances in a single season since 2006.

Did France realize he had just put up a historic season? Not quite.

"It was not really something I paid attention to while I was doing it," he said. "I was just going out and playing baseball. But I'll tell you: Baseball was really fun. Showing up knowing I'm gonna get at least two hits that day was a lot of fun.

"I think going back to the minor leagues was a huge help for me. My first go-around in the big leagues, I was kind of just getting dominated. You kind of put that self-doubt, like, ‘Do I belong here?’ I went back to El Paso, got that confidence back, and when I got back up there, it was, ‘I'm just as good if not better than that guy on the mound, regardless who it is.’"

Armed with the confidence that he belonged, France returned to the Padres in mid-August and performed better down the stretch, albeit still in limited playing time due to the crowded infield.

"In our job, there's scouts from other organizations hanging around the press box, and [France] was the player that scouts would want to ask me about," Hagerty said. "They would want to know: Is there any chance to get this guy in a trade? Or if somehow he gets DFA’d, they want to be all-in on this guy.

"I think the baseball world was just like, ‘How are we going to get this bat to the major leagues? What do we have to do to make it happen?’"

As such, it was hardly a surprise in 2020 when two of baseball’s most trade-happy GMs, San Diego's A.J. Preller and Seattle's Jerry Dipoto, linked up on a deadline blockbuster that sent catcher Austin Nola to San Diego and four players, including France, to the Mariners.

Now the starting first baseman in Seattle, France is getting the opportunity every day to do what he has always done: mash. His 39 hits are tied for third in MLB, and he has been by far the most consistent member of a mercurial offense to start the season.

It’s impossible to know if the Mariners envisioned this level of breakout when they acquired France or if he has outperformed even their expectations. But what matters is that France is now a vital cog for a Seattle team desperate to end the longest postseason drought in major North American sports.

The team’s active offseason signaled as much, headlined by the free-agent signing of reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray, a familiar foe for France. In fact, no MLB pitcher has allowed more hits to France (seven) than the lefty — something Ray is well aware of.

"I didn't have to bring it up. He brought it up first," France said. "And then I told him, jokingly, I was like, ‘Dude, you didn't have to sign with us just to avoid me.’ But no, he's definitely a great leader, great locker room guy. As much as I loved facing him, it's nice having him on our side now."

Overlooked for so long, France is finally on the radar. "If you can hit, they’ll find a spot for you," they say.

Well, the Mariners found a spot for him, and now France is undoubtedly in the bigs to stay.

Jordan Shusterman is half of @CespedesBBQ and a baseball writer for FOX Sports. He lives in D.C. but is a huge Seattle Mariners fan and loves watching the KBO, which means he doesn't get a lot of sleep. You can follow him on Twitter @j_shusterman_.