France has given us the Statue of Liberty. Oui oui! Croissants. Bon appetit! The Louisiana Purchase. Buy low, sell high! Location, location, location! And Ty France of the San Diego Padres. Peu importe... Ty France was born in Downey, California, but the France name is of French origin, so a great, great, great, something something must’ve lived 9 hours in the future at some point. While the Statue of Liberty twinkles the eye, croissants lavish the taste buds and the Louisiana Purchase palpitate the loins, Ty France rarely elicits a response – physically, mentally or emotionally. And why should he, as he’s essentially been a member of the middle class for fantasy baseball for much of his career. And being in the middle is often the worst place to be in most aspects of life. Ok, fine. Maybe it’s not the worst place to be, but it’s often uninspired and lacks upside. That said, a comfortable life can be attained as long as expectations are held in check.
Ty France is 32 years old, 5′ 10″, 215 pounds, and bats from the right side. The Padres selected him in the 34th round of the 2015 MLB draft. In 2020, France was traded to the Seattle Mariners, where he spent a little more than three seasons. He was then traded to the Cincinnati Reds in 2024, cut, landed with the Minnesota Twins before being traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in 2025. He returned to sunny San Diego in February of 2026.
France made the majors in 2019 with the Padres. It wasn’t until he got to Seattle that he made his mark, racking up over 600 plate appearances in three seasons while hitting 18, 20, and 12 home runs. The walk rate was in the 6-7% range, the strikeout rate was around 16%, and the ISO was in the .160 area. The batting average did decline from .291 to .274 to .250 while the ISO was .116 in his final season with the Mariners.
The ISO cratered to .104 in 2025 across two teams.
This season, though, Ty France has bounced back with 15 home runs in 252 plate appearances. The strikeout rate is a career-high 23.4%, but the ISO is also in uncharted territory at .269. The .282/.339/.551 slash is slightly buoyed by a .314 BABIP, but that isn’t far from career norms, so the success doesn’t look to be a result of luck.
The thing that stands out immediately is the 92.2 mph average exit velocity. The prior high was 89.5 mph. France has always had a double-digit launch angle, and it’s at 12.4 degrees this season. The 11.6% barrel rate is also a career-high by a significant margin, as he had never exceeded 8.7% previously. The bat speed has increased from 71 mph to 72 mph.
A 24.2% HR/FB may not be sustainable, especially since he had never exceeded 14% before. To put that number into perspective, only 20 players are at 20% or higher, with Kyle Schwarber and Hunter Goodman leading MLB at 31.1% and 30.7% respectively. That said, he is pulling the ball more (43.3% vs. 33.5% and 35.9% the prior two seasons), putting pitches into the air and making quality contact. The 49.4% hard hit rate is also a career high.
The plate discipline numbers don’t look good, as the chase rate is 32.6%, the contact rates have decreased, while the 13.1% swinging strike rate is a career high. But I’ll take them if it means trying to deposit more pitches into the seats behind the outfield walls.
Ty France has hit five home runs in the last seven games, so he’s on a mini-heater. The ISO is .692, so that’s unsustainable. The .389 BABIP is also fueling a .462 batting average, so regression will come. But that doesn’t mean he’s going to get dumped into the tank like a carnival sideshow. The average exit velocity is 98.9 mph, and the Padres offense has picked up recently. Since July 1, San Diego is sixth in runs scored, and Fernando Tatis Jr. has started showing a pulse again.
Would you drop Ian Happ for Ty France? Happ had a hot start but has been unplayable lately, and I don’t have the most confidence that he’ll turn it around