Ty France Is Suddenly the Padres' Most Important Hitter

There have been several offensive surprises in the first month of this season for the San Diego Padres. Catcher Luis Campusano has a team-leading 1.054 OPS, shortstop Xander Bogaerts is showing why he is being paid $280 million, superstar right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. has yet to hit a home run and Jake Cronenworth has one of the worst OPS in MLB among qualified players.

Then there is Ty France.

The former San Diego State star, born in the Los Angeles suburb of Downey and a West Covina High School alum, had to settle for signing a minor-league contract as spring training began with the team that drafted him in the 34th round in 2015. This came after he won the 2025 AL Gold Glove for first basemen and was part of the World Series runner-up Toronto Blue Jays after a trade from the Minnesota Twins.

But France has made the most out of his second chance with the Padres. As a non-roster invite to spring training, he didn't have a major-league job guaranteed. But he showed a worthy bat, putting together a .306/.352/.510 slash line with two homers and 12 RBIs in 19 Cactus League games. That performance allowed France to take advantage of infielder Sung-Mun Song's oblique injury and snag the final bench spot.

Still, he seemed third on the depth chart at first base behind left-handed-hitting Gavin Sheets and right-handed-hitting Nick Castellanos, who had never played first base before as an MLB player but was up for anything after being released by the Philadelphia Phillies. It was France's defense that would get him any playing time. If he could produce offensively, that would be a bonus. He even tried his hand at second and third base in spring training to make himself more valuable.

The knock on France was that he doesn't produce the offense expected out of a first baseman. It is typically a power position, but France came into 2026 with a grand total of 81 homers in seven seasons, with a peak of 20 in 2022 with the Seattle Mariners, meaning that he averaged about 10 homers a year otherwise. His career slash line entering this year was .262/.334/.400, which made him a slightly above-average hitter with a 108 OPS+. He doesn't walk much, nor does he strike out a ton.

This year has been different, though. The 31-year-old, whether he just relaxed and let his play do the talking or became more focused knowing his playing days could be coming to an end, has thrived with the Padres.

In fact, France might be the most indispensable player they have had in the opening month.

Entering this weekend's series against the Chicago White Sox, France is second to Campusano in OPS with .911, including a slash line of .289/.333/.578. His OPS+ is at a career high of 148. He already has three homers after hitting seven a year ago.

In particular, France has been very integral to the offense in the last week. He had three straight multi-hit games entering Wednesday, going 6-for-11 with a walk and seven RBIs. Four of those RBIs came in Monday's series-opening 9-7 victory over the Chicago Cubs, with a two-run double and a two-run triple plus a stolen base. It was his first triple since 2022. That came two days after hitting two solo homers in Mexico City in a 6-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, just his third career multi-homer game, so France is one of the few Friars in a good groove offensively.

He has been valuable when in the starting lineup. Entering Wednesday, he had a slash line of .325/.372/.650 in 12 starts (1.022 OPS), hitting safely in seven of his previous nine starts.

That production has proven valuable for a Padres offense that is still waiting on its main cogs, Tatis, Cronenworth and superstar third baseman Manny Machado, to get going. The Padres' .693 team OPS ranked 22nd in MLB after Wednesday's action, a far cry from what they were hoping for entering the season. Still, they rank in the top half in runs per game (13th, 4.63) thanks to the contributions of players like France.

While still not having enough plate appearances to officially rate in Statcast categories, you can see that his numbers this year are much better than last year. In particular, his average exit velocity this year is at 92.9 mph, up from 89.5; likewise, his hard-hit percentage is at 56.1%, up from 44.2%. His barrel rate has also increased from 7.7% last year to 17.1% this year.

France has been a nice right-handed complement to Sheets at first base, with Castellanos now the bench player in the most vulnerable position on the roster. Castellanos started in left field Wednesday and hit his first homer of the season, which might signal he is finally adjusting to his bench role after being a career starter. Only two of those starts have been at first due to France's presence—Castellanos has mainly been a designated hitter when he has started. When Song, currently at Triple-A El Paso, was brought up as the extra player for the Mexico City Series, there was chatter that Castellanos' time with the Padres could be coming to an end. Song would bring more versatility to the bench as he can play third, second and shortstop. Castellanos, though, had a couple big hits in the Cubs series.

But that has been the trickle down from France's good spring and continued contributions through the first month of the regular season. If France can keep this up for the remainder of the season, he'll effectively supply the Friars with what they were hoping to get out of Castellanos, only with better defense.

Once Tatis, Machado and Cronenworth get going, France's production may not be as noticeable, but it will make this offense that much better.