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.
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
Rotowire
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.
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."
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.
Twins' Ty France: Inks one-year pact with Minnesota
Rotowire
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.
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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