Padres' Ty France Reveals Secret Behind Unexpected Breakout Season

Ty France is back and better than ever.

Aug 22, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado (13) celebrates with first baseman Ty France (25) after defeating the Minnesota Twins in the ninth inning at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: David Frerker-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The San Diego Padres have turned their season around following the All-Star Break, with the team seeing strong performances from multiple parts of the roster.

Not only has the starting pitching given this group a boost, but the offense has started to wake up. Since the break, the Padres lead the league in team batting average (.273), are third in slugging percentage (.443) and second in OPS (.794).

One reason for this has been the continued success of infielder Ty France, who's put together an incredible season.

Entering Sunday, France has hit .293 with 18 home runs and 55 RBIs, while posting an OPS of .874. He revealed the secret for his success, crediting the Padres' coaches.

“I’ve got to give Steven [Souza Jr.] and the hitting [coaches] a lot of credit,” France said. “When things are going bad, they don’t let it fester. They just say, ‘Hey, this is what we see. This is what you’re doing. Let’s get back to this,’ or ‘Let’s try this.’ So you have to give them a lot of the credit.”

France has continued his success on the defensive end, as he ranks in the 92nd percentile in Outs Above Average with a plus-six grade. He has been one of the more consistent players for San Diego, and it's positively impacted the team in a massive way.

The veteran was an All-Star in 2022 with the Seattle Mariners, and he's just been happy to contribute to a winning organization again.

“I’m just feeling like the old Ty again, which is nice,” France said. “There was a rough two-year stretch where I kind of lost it a little bit, and it’s nice feeling like the player I know I can be.”

France was originally drafted by the Padres back in 2019, but the team traded him to Seattle in August 2020. His rejoining San Diego this past offseason on a minor league deal has become a steal for the Padres.

“I don’t think anybody would have guessed that coming out of spring training,” manager Craig Stammen said of France's season. “We knew Ty is a great baseball player. He’s been in the big leagues for a really long time. We knew he’s a solid player. He’s going to play great first base and give you really good at-bats. Did we see him hitting four-hole and leading our offense the way he is? I don’t think so.”

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