Ty

France

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.

The 31-year-old split his 2025 campaign between the Blue Jays and Twins, slashing .257/.320/.360 with seven homers, 52 RBI and an 83/22 K/BB ratio over 490 plate appearances. France’s best work has always come against left-handed pitching, so he could wind up as a potential platoon option with Gavin Sheets at first base in the event that the Padres decide Nick Castellanos is better suited for the outfield.

While the team has decided on Ben Rice as their starting first baseman, it seems that they are not comfortable with the idea of him hitting against left-handed pitchers. The Yankees are looking to bring in a right-handed hitter to fill that short-side platoon role, and Heyman specifically mentions Goldschmidt, Ty France, Austin Slater, and Randal Grichuk as players “on their list.” Not all of them have experience at first base, which could prove interesting, but France is the name we keep hearing the most.

Those two are joined by Steven Kwan in the outfield. Other AL winners include pitcher Max Fried, catcher Dillon Dingler, first baseman Ty France, second baseman Marcus Semien, third baseman Maikel Garcia, shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and utilityman Mauricio Dubón. Semien getting the nod over Andrés Giménez seems like the biggest upset, though Giménez, who won the previous three years, did miss a bunch of time. Dingler over Alejandro Kirk also rates as a modest surprise.

The 27-year-old has been shelved since early September due to a left knee sprain. It sounds like he’s still not 100 percent and it’ll be interesting to see how he’s deployed — whether it’s strictly as a designated hitter or if the Jays will slide him over to second base — but it sounds like they’ll have his bat at their disposal as they kick off the Fall Classic on Friday night against the Dodgers. Ty France was also added to the Jays’ roster for the World Series while Joey Loperfido and Yariel Rodriguez were removed.

Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt (back) are also absent from Toronto’s ALDS roster in favor of additional relief depth. Ty France, who has been battling an oblique issue, was also left off. It’ll be Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber and likely top prospect Trey Yesavage doing the heavy lifting in the best-of-five series. Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Bichette won’t be officially cleared to return until he’s resumed running at full speed and faces some high-velocity pitching again as he continues to recover from a PCL sprain in his left knee that put him on the injured list back in mid-September. The 27-year-old shortstop’s absence should lead to an increased role for switch-hitting slugger Anthony Santander at DH with Ernie Clement taking over at shortstop.

The Jays have been hopeful that France would be ready to rejoin the team for the start of the Division Series and he appears to be making tangible progress in his recovery from a left oblique issue that has shelved him since mid-September. He’ll still need to clear the hurdle of batting against live pitching before he’s ready to return

The 31-year-old infielder continues to work his way back from left oblique inflammation. He isn’t expected to be ready for a Wild Card series, but could be back in time for a Division Series should he be needed. Jays’ manager John Schneider told reporters on Friday that they’ll see where he is in the next four or five days before making a determination on his status for the postseason.