Ty France Has Helped Changed Padres Fortunes

The San Diego Padres are entering the final stretch of the season with plenty of hopes of making the postseason. 

The stars have finally come around with Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill finding their way at the plate. 

Luis Campusano has been on a tear lately as well, and the pitching is doing just enough to win games. 

However, with all of the big names on the roster, there is one player who has exceeded their value in a big way this season: Ty France. 

The Padres signed France to a minor league deal after he finished the 2025 season with the Toronto Blue Jays. 

However, France was a question mark when it came to making the big league roster, especially with Gavin Sheets, Nick Castellanos and others fighting for roster spots. 

Yet, France has been terrific. ESPN's David Schoenfield named 10 MLB players who have helped their fortunes while also helping their teams, and France made the list. 

"He's second to only Willson Contreras in WAR among all major league first basemen. The key: France has focused on hitting for more power, not only pulling the ball more often but hitting it harder when he does hit it in the air. He has done that while seeing his always-solid strikeout rate rise only five percentage points," Schoenfield wrote. 

That's impressive, and France has played so well that it has almost forced manager Craig Stammen to find ways to play him on a regular basis. 

Entering the weekend, France had played in a total of 120 games, although he was placed on paternity leave on Friday with Mason McCoy being called up. 

France is hitting .294 with 20 home runs and 63 RBIs. He has 114 hits, fourth-most on the team, and he is also fourth on the team in RBI. 

France just had a monster game on Wednesday against the Washington Nationals. He had three hits with a RBI in the Padres' win, and he has five games in his last 10 with two or more base hits. 

His post-All-Star break numbers have been through the roof, and it comes at the perfect time with San Diego right in the playoff picture. 

Previously, Stammen raved about France, although he said nobody would've expected this type of production. 

 "I don't think anybody would have guessed that coming out of spring training," the Padres manager said. 

France is not only helping the Padres make a playoff push, but the veteran is surely helping his own case as he enters free agency after the 2026 season, and he might cash in with a nice, heavy contract.