France (foot) is starting at first base and batting cleanup Friday against the Brewers.
France sat the previous two contests after suffering a foot injury in Game 1 of Wednesday's doubleheader, but he's back in action for Friday's series opener in Milwaukee. After posting a .745 OPS in his first 31 games of the year, France has struggled so far in May with a .217 average (10-for-46) and just two extra-base hits in 12 contests.
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Twins' Ty France: Idle for Thursday's game
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France (foot) is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Orioles.
On Wednesday, France exited in the fifth inning of the Twins' 6-3 win in the first game of a doubleheader due to a left foot contusion, then was withheld from action in the 8-6 win over the Orioles later on that day. The Twins are continuing to view France as day-to-day, but he'll miss out on a second straight start as the team wraps up its series in Baltimore. Kody Clemens will fill in for France at first base.
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Twins' Ty France: Exits game with foot contusion
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France was removed during the fifth inning of the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader in Baltimore with a left foot contusion, Bobby Nightengale of The Minnesota Star Tribune reports. He went 0-for-3 at the plate prior to his departure.
France grounded out in the top of the fifth inning before being replaced on defense prior to the bottom of the frame. The Twins could have more information on France's status in between games, but France will likely sit out the second leg of the twin bill, at the very least.
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Twins' Ty France: Stays hot Thursday
Rotowire
France went 3-for-5 with a double in Thursday's 4-3 extra-inning loss to the Guardians.
France has been red hot at the plate recently, going 12-for-25 (.480) with four doubles and a home run during his current six-game hitting streak. The 30-year-old first baseman is now slashing .281/.352/.421 to start the year with three homers, 18 RBI and 14 runs scored across 128 plate appearances.
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Twins' Ty France: Supplies lone offense in loss
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France went 3-for-4 with a solo home run during Tuesday's 2-1 loss to the Guardians.
The 30-year-old was the only Minnesota player to collect multiple hits, and his solo homer during the fifth inning accounted for the club's lone run of the day. France has been on a tear over the past four games with three multi-hit performances, and he's gone 8-for-16 with three doubles and a home run during that stretch. He's enjoyed a decent start to the campaign with a .267/.345/.410 slash line and three long balls in 30 games while serving as the Twins' primary first baseman.
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Twins' Ty France: Homers Thursday
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France went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Thursday's 3-2 loss to the Royals.
France got the Twins on the board Thursday with a 411-foot blast off Michael Wacha in the second inning, his second homer this season. The veteran first baseman has been swinging the bat well of late, going 6-for-14 with four extra-base hits in his last four contests. Overall, France is slashing .261/.320/.457 with five RBI and seven runs scored through his first 50 plate appearances on the campaign.
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Twins' Ty France: Clubs first long ball
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France went 3-for-4 with a solo home run and an additional RBI against the Royals in a 4-0 win Wednesday.
France was the only Minnesota batter with more than one hit in the victory, and he drove in half of the team's runs on an RBI single in the sixth inning and a solo shot to left field in the ninth. It was the veteran first baseman's third multi-hit performance of the campaign, though he came into Wednesday in a 3-for-17 rut at the plate over his past five contests. France has settled in as the Twins' primary first baseman and has posted a .256/.304/.395 slash line through his first 46 plate appearances of the campaign.
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Twins' Ty France: Not in Sunday's lineup
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France is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Astros.
France started Minnesota's first eight games of the season and will receive a day off after going 6-for-30 with a double, two RBI and two runs scored. Mickey Gasper will step in at first base for the series finale versus Houston.
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Twins' Ty France: Continues hot start to spring
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France went 2-for-3 with one home run, one double, four RBI and two runs scored in Saturday's Grapefruit League game against the Red Sox.
He had an RBI double off Aroldis Chapman in the fourth inning and later swatted a three-run homer off Josh Winckowski in the sixth. France inked a one-year, $1 million deal with the Twins back on Feb. 11 and has torn the cover off the ball eight games into spring training. Through 22 plate appearances, France is slashing .524/.565/1.000 with two long balls, four doubles, seven RBI, six runs scored and a pair of walks. Manager Rocco Baldelli has said France is viewed as Minnesota's starting first baseman going into the season, and it's "not a platoon situation."
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Twins' Ty France: Viewed as starter at 1B
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France is viewed by the Twins as the starter at first base, the Minnesota Star Tribune reports. "He's going to play a lot," manager Rocco Baldelli said. "That's really the best way of saying it. The kind of hitter that he is, this isn't a platoon situation. I think he's going to play."
France signed just a one-year, $1 million contract which wouldn't appear to indicate he'd be the leader for an everyday role. Baldelli could be just boosting his confidence as the team works on his swing after a 2024 season that saw him hit just .234/.305/.365 with 13 homers over 140 regular-season games. Jose Miranda and Edouard Julien will also compete for playing time at first base and France could still work in a platoon or time share. Still, Baldelli's comments should make France the leader in the competition as spring training begins.
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Twins' Ty France: Inks one-year pact with Minnesota
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The Twins signed France to a one-year, $1 million contract Tuesday, Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.
It's a major-league contract but is not guaranteed, per Miller. France will be thrown into the first-base mix for Minnesota along with Jose Miranda and Edouard Julien. The 30-year-old slashed only .234/.305/.365 with 13 homers over 140 regular-season games between the Mariners and Reds last season, but the Twins will be hoping to get a version of France closer to the one that produced an All-Star campaign in 2022 with Seattle.
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Ty France: Open to playing catcher
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France is willing to consider playing catcher, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports.
France has never caught an inning either at the major- or minor-league level, but he did get some reps behind the plate at the Padres' alternate site in 2020 and has been viewed as an emergency catcher at a couple stops. Realistically, it's difficult to envision the 30-year-old France seeing substantial time at catcher at this point in his career, especially since he's evidently drawn free-agent interest from 10-plus clubs, per Feinsand.
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Ty France: Becomes free agent
Rotowire
France elected free agency Friday.
France refused an outright assignment to the minors, exercising his right to hit the free agent market instead. The 30-year-old slashed only .234/.305/.365 with 13 home runs over 140 games this season between the Mariners and Reds. France should be able to find a major-league deal somewhere, although perhaps not as an everyday player.
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Reds' Ty France: Launches 13th homer
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France went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run in Saturday's 7-1 win over the Pirates.
France took Jared Jones deep in the third inning and snapped a streak of 14 games without a home run. After a hot stretch initially upon joining the Reds, France had hit a skid, slashing .200/.193/.255 with zero homers over his last 14 games. The 30-year-old has five of his 13 homers with Cincinnati to go along with a .746 OPS in 160 at-bats since joining his new team.
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Reds' Ty France: Smacks homer, stays hot
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France went 2-for-3 with a solo home run in Thursday's 1-0 win over the Astros.
France took Bryan Abreu deep in the seventh inning to plate the only run needed for the Reds to complete the sweep of the Astros. France hit his 12th home run of the year, matching last season's total in 37 fewer games. The 30-year-old went 9-for-11 in this Astros series, becoming the third player this season with multiple hits and an RBI in three straight games against Houston.
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Reds' Ty France: Logs three hits, steal in win
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France went 3-for-4 with a stolen base, an RBI and a run scored in Wednesday's 12-5 win over the Astros.
France followed up his four-hit game Monday with another three hits Wednesday. The stolen base was his first of the season and second during a six-year MLB career. He's on a bit of a roll, going 14-for-32 (.438) with three doubles, five walks, four RBI and five runs scored over the last nine contests.
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Reds' Ty France: Has four hits in win
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France went 4-for-4 with a double and an RBI in Monday's 5-3 win against the Astros.
France got a hit in all four of his at-bats Monday, making it his second career four-hit game and the first since 2021. France has been a solid piece for the Reds since acquiring him in July. The 30-year-old is hitting .284 in 29 games with the Reds after struggling to a .223 average in his first 88 games of the season with the Mariners.
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Reds' Ty France: Sitting against righty
Rotowire
France is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Athletics.
The Reds' recent additions of Dominic Smith and Amed Rosario look to have cost France some playing time, as France will head to the bench Wednesday for the third time in the past six matchups with right-handed pitchers. France should continue to replace Smith at first base when the Reds face lefties, but Smith looks to be the preferred option at the position versus righties, and manager David Bell could rotate a number of players at the designated-hitter spot.
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Reds' Ty France: Sitting down Thursday
Rotowire
France isn't in the Reds' lineup for Thursday's game versus Pittsburgh.
France will get a breather during Thursday's series opener after going 2-for-11 with two RBI and two runs scored in Cincinnati's last series against Toronto. The newly signed Dominic Smith will get the nod to start at first base while Jonathan India serves as the DH, allowing Santiago Espinal to cover second.
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Reds' Ty France: Getting evening off
Rotowire
France is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Cardinals.
France will get a respite for the series finale after he went 4-for-17 with a solo home run, a walk and an additional run while starting each of the last five games at either first base or designated hitter. Spencer Steer will get the nod at first base Wednesday, while Jeimer Candelario serves as the Reds' DH.
