France progressing well on road to recovery

This story was excerpted from Brian McTaggart’s Astros Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

HOUSTON -- One of the Astros’ feel-good stories of the 2023 season, right-hander J.P. France reported to Spring Training nearly a year ago not exactly … feeling good. He dealt with shoulder inflammation in the offseason and came to camp about 10 days behind a typical throwing schedule.

France battled his way into the Houston rotation to start last year, though he still wasn’t healthy. He posted a 7.46 ERA in his five starts, was optioned to Triple-A and eventually was shut down for the season. France underwent surgery July 1 to repair a torn right shoulder capsule, a procedure which comes with a recovery time of 12-14 months.

France has been working his way back since with rehab, and Monday marked his final day of throwing at 75 feet. He will move back to 90 feet on Wednesday. France has been throwing at 72-74 mph, which is on target for where he should be during his recovery.

“It’s been going good,” he said. “I haven’t had any setbacks, knock on wood. Every day I throw and there’s really no soreness, no pain. Everything’s been going good without a hiccup.”

If anyone can overcome adversity, it’s France. He had Tommy John surgery while at Tulane in 2015 and missed the entire season. After the Astros took him in the 14th round of the 2018 MLB Draft out of Mississippi State, he nearly quit in 2019. Then came the pandemic, which cost him the 2020 season.

“As far as having to establish myself, I’ve had to do that my whole life,” he said. “That goes back to my college days where I had six head coaches in five years. Every year, I had to reestablish myself. For me, it’s nothing new. I don’t want to say I’ve had the hard path to get where I am, but it’s more difficult for some other guys.”

France was thrust into the rotation early in the 2023 season after the Astros lost starting pitchers Luis Garcia (Tommy John surgery) and José Urquidy (right shoulder) to injuries. He went 11-6 with a 3.83 ERA in 24 games (23 starts) and became a fan favorite because of his signature mustache.

France threw five scoreless innings in his Major League debut on May 6, 2023, and went 7-3 with a 2.85 ERA in his first 15 starts. In his final eight starts of the 2023 season, he posted a 6.31 ERA, which included a start against Boston in which he gave up 10 runs and 11 hits in 2 1/3 innings, but the body of work was solid and enough to put France in a position to start the 2024 season in Houston’s rotation.

In the fourth game of last season, France held the Yankees to three runs in 5 2/3 innings and followed that up with a nearly identical line April 6 against the Rangers. He gave up 15 runs in 14 innings in his next three starts and was optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land. France made one start for the Space Cowboys on April 30 before being shut down with an injury.

“Guys throw through pain, and I didn’t think anything of it,” France said. “I was just throwing because I was out there and trying to keep my spot. That definitely probably had a little something to do with it. I’m not going to say, ‘Oh, that’s the reason why I struggled last year at the beginning.’ I’m not going to say that.”

After the surgery, he was in an arm sling for a month and did treatment in Houston until he returned home to Tennessee at the end of August. France began tossing a baseball in early December and will report to big league camp in a month to continue his rehab with the team in Florida, where he’ll remain until May.

“I could keep cruising like I am right now and get out of West Palm in April, or I could have a setback or something and stay there until June,” he said. “You never know. I feel like the way it’s going right now, hopefully I’m looking more about the 12-month mark, so that will be me [back] in July. Hopefully that’s the case. There’s a fine line because it’s a shoulder surgery and you’re not trying to rush it back, either.”