Ty France Nearly Retired Before Breakout 2026 Season With Padres

This season would be unrecognizable without the veteran who is hitting .301.

Sep 19, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres first baseman Ty France (25) waits on first base during the eighth inning against the Miami Marlins at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The San Diego Padres drafted Ty France in the 34th round of the 2015 MLB Draft.

Over a decade later, France, who grew up 113 miles away from Petco Park, found himself back in pinstripes having an unimaginable season. The first baseman is hitting .301/.366/.519 with a career-high 21 home runs, 70 RBIs and even a pair of triples.

Aside from 43 games in 2020, his batting average and on-base percentage has never been higher. His previous career-slugging mark from that same season was .468.

After bouncing around four different organizations since his 2019 debut — plus coming within two outs of securing a World Series ring last season with the Toronto Blue Jays — France inked a minor league deal with the Padres the day after Valentine's Day.

He recently told AJ Cassavell of MLB.com that though there was still gas in the tank, the career-.262 hitter knew that this might be the end of the road if he didn't last on an MLB roster.

“I still felt like I had something to offer to this game, to a team,” France said. “I went into spring training with the thought, ‘There’s a chance this could be it. If I don’t make a team out of camp, I don’t know if I want to go to Triple-A.' It was just a sink or swim kind of thing. Thankfully, it worked out.”

Not only did things work out for France, but also for a San Diego Padres team that appeared dead in the water at quite a few points this season. Starting pitching was inconsistent, Fernando Tatis Jr. was home run-less until the end of May and Manny Machado's batting average took an uncharacteristic turn for the worst.

France had a hot start when San Diego needed him most, and after cooling down momentarily in June, has kicked things to another gear in the second half of the season.

Since the All-Star Break, France is batting .335/.404/.547 with a .951 OPS.

Manager Craig Stammen spoke on France and not just what he brings to team with his bat, but the excitement of watching a career renaissance in real time.

“It’s been a lot of fun, watching him prove himself to everybody,” Stammen said. “Including myself. At the beginning of the season, I don’t think we saw him as an everyday player, but a solid bench piece that we’d have that would give us a professional at-bat, every time.

“But, he’s been maybe our most important hitter throughout the entire season, our most consistent hitter throughout the entire season.”

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