If you can hit a baseball team will find a spot for you in the lineup. Ty France can hit.
"I love his bat. He's strong, he stays in the zone," said Padres manager Jayce Tingler.
So now the Padres have to find a spot for him in the lineup and that means finding a position for him to play. This is where position flexibility comes in to play. San Diego has had the kid from San Diego State working all over the diamond.
"The first two days was 1st base. Yesterday and today was 3rd base. About three times this week I've done catching stuff," said France on Friday. Keep in mind that was within the first six days of workouts. He also started playing 2nd base last year and plans to get reps there, as well. But for Ty the constant movement is actually kind of fun.
"i enjoy it," says France (a 3rd baseman at SDSU). "It keeps the game fun. It's like, showing up every day wondering what am I gonna do today? The more I can do the better it is for the club so I'm just trying to master each position and taking it day-by-day."
As previously mentioned, one thing he'll probably do is hit. In 101 games at Triple-A El Paso he has a .372 batting average with an absurd 1.167 OPS. His big league numbers overall aren't as great but in September things seemed to click. Over the final month of the season France had a .903 OPS and homered once every 11 at-bats.
One thing he will not be doing, however, is watching his old school's undefeated basketball team. The Aztecs are 26-0 and Ty is keeping an eye on them. Just not a live eye on them.
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"I am keeping up with them. I haven't gone to any games. They started winning without me going so I don't want to chance ... I don't even watch the games on TV because I don't want to risk them losing. I keep up with them on my phone, though." said France. "They're 26-0, why ruin it?"
Baseball players are, by their nature, a superstitious lot. Plus if it ain't broke ... don't break it.
