Ty France's case for Mariners' MVP

SEATTLE -- It’s reaching the point of the season when awards chatter gains more steam, as the MVP and Cy Young races heat up. And while no Mariners player will contend for either of those this season, the local BBWAA chapter will still vote for Seattle’s most valuable player and pitcher.

That naturally begs the question: Who might be leading the charge among position players? J.P. Crawford? Mitch Haniger? Kyle Seager?

Don’t sleep on Ty France.

France recently climbed all the way to the top of the leaderboard in WAR, an all-encompassing statistic that takes into account offense, defense, baserunning and more. By FanGraphs’ estimation, France’s 2.5 WAR ranks ahead of Seager (2.2), Haniger (2.1) and Crawford (1.8), all of whom have been perhaps equally, if not more, valuable to Seattle’s success this season. But none have been more consistent than France.

And for good measure, he went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer and his first triple of the season, both off Toronto ace Hyun Jin Ryu, in Saturday's 9-3 win.

Here is the how and why on France's consistency in 2021:

His glove is catching his bat

Jarred Kelenic got the Gatorade bath in Friday’s walk-off win over Toronto, but there’s hardly any debate that France made the play of the game, vacuuming an over-the-shoulder catch in foul territory with the bases loaded then firing a one-hopper to catcher Tom Murphy that nabbed speedster Breyvic Valera attempting to tag up and score from third.

It was among Seattle’s best defensive plays of the year, but for those watching closely, it was another gem in a growing defensive highlight reel for France, who leads all qualified AL first baseman in fielding percentage (1.000), defensive runs saved (4) and ultimate zone rating (3.1), per FanGraphs. He also has ignited nine double plays at first base this season, which trails only the Marlins' Jesús Aguilar's 10 for the MLB lead.

A’s two-time Gold Glove Award winner Matt Olson will be tough to beat for this year’s honor, but it’s impressive to think that France will be in the mix to make it back to back at the position for Seattle, which lost last year’s winner, Evan White, to a season-ending hip injury in May.

Therein adds to France’s value as a more than serviceable fill-in -- just six months ago, he was struggling his way through Spring Training trying to learn second base. A corner infielder by trade and build, France has become the latest success story of infield coach and guru Perry Hill.

“I can't thank him enough for all the time and work that we've done together,” France said. “But it's kind of just come down to comfort for me, having more reps at one position. It gave me a chance to settle in and get comfortable. I think it's always been there. It's just, I've never really had a set position, and to be able to be an everyday first baseman now getting those reps, it makes huge difference.”

And his bat is among MLB’s most consistent
Since the All-Star break among AL players, France’s .349 batting average ranks third, his .400 on-base percentage ranks eighth and his 151 wRC+ (league average is 100) is 12th. All of those numbers lead his teammates by a mile, other than second baseman Abraham Toro, who didn’t arrive until July 27. And since an IL stint in May for a left wrist injury that significantly curtailed his production until he let it heal, France has reached base in 64 of 70 games.

But why is he so consistent? Because he makes contact with just about everything over the plate. That, in part, is why opposing pitchers throw more inside to him, resulting in France being hit by a franchise-record-tying 19 pitches.

France’s pitch tracking
Fastballs: .300 BA | .414 SLG | 16.6% whiff rate | 4 HR
Breaking balls: .246 BA | .407 SLG | 29.1% whiff rate | 3 HR
Offspeed: .306 BA | .532 SLG | 16.9% whiff rate | 4 HR

“Recognizing it is half the battle. The other half of the battle is having the ability to put the bat on it,” manager Scott Servais said. “And he's got both of those. He does recognize pitches really well.

“I think he's oftentimes doesn't get enough credit for what I call ‘feel-to-hit.’ … His ability to kind of have a really good idea of what the pitcher is going to throw at him in certain situations based on maybe history, what he's done to other right-handed hitters, kind of knowing that pitcher’s strength, that pitcher’s weakness. I think Ty has a really good feel-to-hit and a good understanding of what the pitcher is going to do against him.”

What’s next?
When one thinks of what the next Mariners’ postseason roster looks like -- this year, next or down the road -- it’s hard to imagine it not including France. That’s basically a way to say that he’s here to stay. General manager Jerry Dipoto has reiterated since trading for France last summer that he’d attempted to do so for years.

But with White’s impending return, where might France fit on the diamond? Third base could be open if Kyle Seager’s club option isn’t picked up, though the club might look to fill that void via free agency. Second base got more clarity with the addition of Toro, who could also be an option at third long term. And DH would be a fit, too, but the Mariners have explicitly created positional versatility for such issues.

Yet if White bounces back and finds his way offensively, and France continues to produce, it’s a safe bet that the Mariners will happily take tough positional decisions for 2022 as a good problem to have.