France Thrives on Coming Home

WASHINGTON, D.C. —  Despite not being born or attending high school in San Diego, Ty France, 32, is as close to a native son as the Padres feature on their roster.

The West Covina native played three years at San Diego State University, rotating between first and third base. He hit .336/.428/.470 in his junior year, when his batting average was 20 points lower than his sophomore season.

While he put up very good numbers for the Aztecs, France would be the first to tell anyone who asked – and maybe a few that didn’t – that the biggest benefit was getting an opportunity to play under San Diego legend Tony Gwynn, who instilled in him the belief that, no matter what the level, ‘he could hit’.

Unfortunately, that didn’t translate during  the draft. Under the old 40-round system, France lasted until the 34th round.

“The draft was a process for me,” France admitted to the San Diego Union-Tribune in 2017. “I was pretty upset at the time. I felt like I had earned throughout my college career a little bit higher (of a slot), but everything happens for a reason.”

One reason that France did last so long was that there were questions about his power, and the former high school fullback at 5-foot-10, 240 pounds was considered too thick. It wasn’t until 2018 – when he teamed up on the left side of the infield with Fernando Tatis Jr. in Double-A San Antonio, that the player that we see now began to emerge.

In the offseason, he worked with a trainer and leaned out to 215, which resulted in him hitting 17 home runs and leading the team with 77 RBI.

“He hunts the fastball; he hunts the RBI. He’s one of the guys I want up at the plate with the game on the line,” Missions manager Philip Wellman told us about his third baseman in 2018. 

“Ty is a smart, tough kid and he is going to play in the big leagues.”

France did make it to the big leagues; unfortunately, he was part of what became a recurring theme for the Padres, overpaying in an attempt to trade for a controllable catcher, when he was sent to Seattle along with Andres Munoz and others to acquire Austin Nola.

After subsequent stops with the Reds, Twins and Blue Jays last year, France came back to San Diego on a minor league deal with a chance to make the team.

A few early-season injuries provided some opportunities, and France never looked back. This year, the former Gold Glover with Minnesota has anchored the team’s infield defense, and offensively he has been the Padres’ best player. He leads the team in WAR, and his .879 OPS is 100 points better than his nearest teammate.

In talking with him on the road with the Padres, what was apparent was that France, despite playing with four teams since he first got called up to the big leagues with the Padres in 2019, thinks the same way he did a year before his major league debut.

“It’s awesome,” said France from Triple-A El Paso when asked what it meant to be drafted by San Diego. “To be picked by the hometown team is always a dream come true. I am from LA, but I’ve been in San Diego for three years, and it became home. I had two years with Coach Gwynn and my junior year with Coach Martinez, so I feel I got the best of both worlds.

“Coach Gwynn is Mr. Padre, so getting to be in his organization is something special.”

MadFriars: You came into baseball in 2015, but your power really began to pick up as you started to play against better competition starting in 2018 in San Antonio. What happened?
Ty France: El Paso was playing on the moon, so that did help. Probably just maturity, and the older I’ve gotten, maybe the stronger I’ve gotten. I started to take a lot more pride in offseason lifting. Some of the stuff that I didn’t pay too much attention to when I was younger, and now it’s about trying to take care of my body and put myself in a good place to succeed.

You also changed the way you lifted, correct? You started to do much more baseball-oriented stuff.
Ty France:  I’ve gone through waves to find out what works for me. I need to look like a football player, but still have flexibility and be able to move. There are different techniques that I’ve used, and I try to hone in on what works.

You have always been consistent in crediting Coach Gwynn at San Diego State for helping you with your mechanics, but it seemed the biggest thing that he gave you was the belief that you could hit.
Ty France: Confidence is a big thing in this game, and when you have someone to remind you what you are good at and what you are not good at, it’s. He always found a way to remind us of what we needed to work on while praising us for what we were really good at.

It’s definitely been helpful to me throughout my career, and I still use his knowledge today. 

You had some really good years in Seattle; some were not as good when you left, but you have really bounced back this season. What has been the biggest reason for your success?
Ty France: San Diego has always been home, so to be back here is awesome. You can look at the numbers and say some things could have been better, but in my opinion, only 2024 was really subpar. In 2025, all my expected numbers were career bests, so it was an unlucky year.

This year, it is comforting to be back, and I feel like I’ve found my swing again and can move the ball around the whole field. The balls I was hitting last year that should have gone out are going out – so that is nice.

It’s just a combination of a lot of things, and it’s great to be home.