Former Toronto Blue Jays Player Credits Organization For Revitalizing Career

Former Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Ty France credited his time with the Blue Jays for helping unlock his ability at the plate again.

Speaking with The Athletic earlier this summer, and re-put out on Friday, France, who will be a valued free agent this winter, said that hitting coach David Popkins helped fix a mechanical issue that had held him back for the last few seasons.

“I never doubted my ability, but I was just more confused, like, ‘Why can’t I do it anymore? What’s going on?’” France said. “I knew it was still in there. It was just like, what do I need to fix? And I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. And so when Popkins told me, ‘Hey, this is what it is,’ and I was able to see almost immediate results, I was, like, ‘OK, I know I’m still the player I was prior to the ’24 season.’”

France only spent three months with the Blue Jays after being acquired at the trade deadline in 2025.

Drafted in the 34th round of the 2015 MLB Draft out of San Diego State, France played for the legendary Tony Gwynn while in college. A San Diego native, he was actually drafted by the San Diego Padres before being traded to the Seattle Mariners during the COVID 2020 season.

He established himself as an exciting young piece on an ascending Mariners team, and he helped the Mariners make the playoffs and beat the Blue Jays in the 2022 American League wild card round. He made the All-Star Game in 2022, but then really struggled in 2023 and 2024, getting designated for assignment.

He latched on with the Cincinnati Reds for the rest of 2024 and then signed with the Minnesota Twins in 2025 before being traded to Toronto. He signed with the Padres again in 2026 and rediscovered his form, with the prior help from Popkins. He hit .295 with 21 homers, 72 RBIs and an .865 OPS as the Padres got back to the playoffs.

And now, he's headed for a likely robust free agency. Of course, the lockout will impact everything, but France figures to have a solid market.

While France may have gotten the answers to his problems from Popkins, he didn't get much time to implement them, as he played a backup role to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at first base. He hit .277 with the Jays, but had only one homer in 37 games. He also dealt with injury at the end of the season, which impacted his availability down the stretch.

He helped the Blue Jays get to the World Series, where they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games. He played in the World Series after not appearing in the previous rounds.

He also won the Gold Glove Award at first base for his work with Minnesota and Toronto.