PEORIA, Ariz. — Mariners first baseman Ty France was an All-Star in 2022, but in 2023 he posted career-low numbers.
So he decided to do something about it.
After last season France decided to go to Driveline Baseball in Kent. Driveline is a successful data-driven baseball development facility, that operates outside of pro-organizations. They have a track record for turning careers around and taking performance to the next level.
"Last year didn't go the way I wanted," France said. "So I thought it was time to kind of try something new. And I saw how successful J.P. (Crawford) was and how good Driveline worked for him, so I figured if I'm going to start somewhere, might as well start there."
France said the feedback was immediate. The first baseman said he has added close to 3.5 miles per hour of bat speed this offseason.
"It's crazy to see how bad my swing was on a mechanical aspect," France said. "I have created a lot of years of bad habits, so just trying to get as clean as possible and tighten all that up. I think we made a lot of adjustments and a lot of improvements."