KENT, Wash. — Spring Training was a trial run for Mariners first baseman Ty France and his new swing.
His old cut wasn't cutting it. He said messed-up mechanics had taken the joy out of the game.
"It's crazy to see how bad my swing was on like a mechanical aspect," he said. "Obviously last year didn't go the way I wanted it, so I thought it was time to kind of try something new."
The early results have been promising. France roped line drive after line drive this spring thanks to an offseason spent at Driveline.
"Basically every MLB hitter that's ever come through here has seen some sort of improvement in their game," said Tanner Stokey, the director of hitting at the facility in Kent.
Driveline is a data-driven baseball development company whose credibility has skyrocketed over the past few years.
But even with a reputation of results, France needed some final convincing.
"Ty was a little skeptical at first," Stokey said.
The first motion capture session didn't dissuade his doubts.
"They asked me if they could film me and I figured I was already taped up with all the sensors and stuff on. I thought it was for research purposes," France said. "The next day I was driving to Driveline and my wife called me and told me I was in my underwear on the Internet. That wasn't supposed to happen."
But eventually, the resistance led to a renaissance.
"Second time he came through, he made sure he wore his good underwear," Stokey said.
France's stay at Driveline was more than brief. He spent 15 days in the batting cages trying to sweeten his swing.
"You could say his mechanics were inefficient," Stokey said. "He's not using the ground and not using his body the most effective way to produce force and produce speed."
"They were very good about just sitting me down and showing me: 'Alright this is how you were before. this is what you need to look like.'"
With the swing reconstructed, France then had to do the same to his body.
"Hips were limited, T-spine was limited, overall strength wasn't necessarily where we wanted it," said Zach Settles, the lead high-performance trainer. "He lost about nine to 10 pounds this offseason and absolute strength went up 800 newtons, which you typically just don't see."
What you will see is France transformed. He added 3 miles of bat speed as well.
"Get Ty back to where he was the last couple years, that's a pretty damn good hitter," Stokey said.
The folks at Driveline said it's the future of France that has them excited.
"If everything is done correctly, the swing is done properly, my barrel is in the zone a lot longer and it just gives me more room for error," France said.