Ty

France

With Nick Castellanos no longer in San Diego, the Padres have been using Gavin Sheets in left field more often, which has freed up first base for Ty France. Since May 1st, France is hitting .292/.313/.508 in 68 plate appearances with three home runs, 10 RBI, and a 48 percent hard-hit rate. That has also come with a 22/2 K/BB ratio, so it’s not all great news, but he is worth a look in deeper formats if he’s going to be a regular in the lineup.

France hit a line-drive homer to right field off Justin Sterner in the bottom of the seventh. He’s performing well in limited playing time, though his walk rate has sharply fallen. France will continue spelling Gavin Sheets at first base when San Diego is facing a lefty or otherwise shaking up their infield.

The Padres gave Gavin Sheets just his fourth outfield start of the year to make room for France tonight. It was France’s first start in four games. At .280/.308/.520 in 78 plate appearances, he currently has the third-best OPS on the Padres. Still, they seem wholly unconvinced that he’ll be able to keep it up, probably for good reason.

The triple should have been caught in right field, but France deserved the break after being handicapped going into the at-bat. The Padres didn’t immediately decide to have him hit for Sung-Mun Song after the Giants brought lefty Matt Gage into the game, and France was charged with an automatic strike because of the delay before his at-bat started. He ended up in a full count afterwards before sending the seventh actual pitch of the at-bat to right field for a triple off Jesus Rodriguez’s glove. France is batting .291/.328/.564 as a part-timer for the Padres. He’s been on the bench each of the last four times the team has faced a righty.

France is one of the slowest players in the game, so it’s pretty surprising to see him come up with a three-bagger. The 31-year-old has swung the bat exceptionally since returning to San Diego, and while it’s a small sample, his .297/.350/.649 slash deserves kudos. He’s not all that long removed from being a solid option for Seattle, and it’s feasible — albeit far from guaranteed — he’s refinding the form. France is at least worth keeping an eye on in the early portion of the campaign.

France, now 9-for-34 with three homers on the season, has started two straight games against righties and should be clearly ahead of Miguel Andujar and Nick Castellanos on the Padres’ depth chart for the moment. It’s not really relevant outside of NL-only leagues, but it is extra reason to think the Padres might move on from Castellanos in the not-so-distant future.

France also doubled along with a single for the three-hit game. The 31-year-old has his first homer of the campaign in his return to the Padres, and his first RBI for good measure. France was once among the better first-base options in fantasy circles, but he’s not someone who can be counted on in formats at this stage of his career. Sunday was a fun reminder of what once was, however, and it’s not out of the question the 31-year-old has a bounceback campaign in 2026.

The Padres went with lefty Gavin Sheets at first base and Miguel Andujar at DH against Tarik Skubal on Thursday. Tonight, they’re switching to Ty France at first base and sticking with Andujar against Framber Valdez. It’s definitely not good looking for Castellanos, who flew out in his lone at-bat off the bench Thursday. The Padres have no financial obligation to him beyond paying him the MLB minimum, and with all being defensively limited right-handers, it just wouldn’t make much sense to keep all three of Andujar, Castellanos and France around for the long haul.

France will open the season on San Diego’s bench after making the club as a non-roster invitee this spring. The 31-year-old hit .257 with seven homers and 52 RBI over 490 plate appearances between the Blue Jays and Twins last year.

France wins a bench job with the Padres after entering camp as a non-roster invitee. The 31-year-old veteran first baseman hit .257 with seven homers and 52 RBI over 490 plate appearances between the Blue Jays and Twins last year.