New mindset, revamped swing has France optimistic about '25

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- After taking his physical, first baseman Ty France arrived in Twins camp a little after 9:00 a.m. ET.

Forty-five minutes later, France was in the home dugout at Lee Health Sports Complex and declined to give excuses as to why he had the worst season of his Major League career in 2024. He wouldn¡¯t even budge when asked about the fractured right foot he suffered after being hit by a pitch against the Royals last June.

¡°I don¡¯t want to put all the blame on that. There was a lot that went into it,¡± France said. ¡°[I] tried a different style of training that offseason and tried to revamp my swing. It didn¡¯t work out the way I thought it would.¡±

France ended up splitting time with the Mariners and Reds last season and had a combined slash line of .234/.305/.365 with 13 home runs, 51 RBIs and 46 runs scored -- far less than the strong numbers he put up with Seattle in 2021 and 2022, which earned him an All-Star selection.

After the ¡®24 season, Cincinnati outrighted France to Triple-A Louisville, but he declined the assignment and became a free agent. The Twins officially announced that they signed France to a one-year contract worth $1 million on Saturday. France will be competing with Jos¨¦ Miranda and Edouard Julien for the starting job at first base.

¡°Ty has always been on our radar,¡± said Derek Falvey, the Twins¡¯ president of baseball operations. ¡°There have been a couple of conversations we had from a trade [standpoint], wondering if he would be a fit. ¡­ He is a guy that fits us [now], we think. A couple of short years ago, his swing was where he wanted it to be. He was an All-Star a few seasons ago.¡±

France spent the entire offseason getting back to what got him to the big leagues, not worrying about anything on the analytical side of the game. He worked with former Major Leaguer Denny Hocking, a Twins legend, and watched videos that featured conversations between him and his mentor, Tony Gwynn, his college coach at San Diego State. France learned valuable lessons this winter: With Hocking, France is getting better connection on the ball by keeping his back foot grounded. The hope is to add more power to his swing.

And what was Gwynn¡¯s advice? Keep the game simple and have fun, which wasn¡¯t the case until after the Mariners dealt France to Cincinnati before the Trade Deadline on July 29th.

¡°This game is hard, and the more you overthink and over complicate, it just makes it harder,¡± France said. ¡°So yeah, it was a lot of going back and watching old videos and listening to the conversations that I had with Gwynn, just getting back to the basics of things.

¡°So kind of refinding that joy in the game again and understanding we play a game for a living. Not everyone gets to do this, especially at this level. So, yeah, [getting traded to] Cincinnati last year, kind of having that reset, I found that joy again and enjoyed playing baseball again.

"So I'm really looking forward to this year.¡±

Spring Training is another reset for France. He is with his third team in a year and ready to fight for a spot on the Major League roster.

¡°I'm not going to go out here and try to be something I'm not,¡± France said. ¡°I'm going to go out and play my game -- and if it aligns, great.¡±