Mariners Report Cards: Grading the 2021 season for Ty France

Back when the Mariners traded away Austin Nola, it seemed like a nice return. Ty France, Luis Torrens, Taylor Trammell, and Andres Munoz all came back to the team in the deal. After a full season of Ty France, it’s clear that not only did the Mariners win the trade, but they easily got the best player in the deal.

Ty France put together a special season for the Mariners. It wasn’t just his offense that was the highlight though. His defense at first base turned out to be not just acceptable, but some of the best in the entire league. I’m normally a fan of baseball reference, but his defensive value really seems to change based on where you look. The guy played consistent defense, scooped a lot of bad throws, and only made one error in 106 games at first base.

He also led all first basemen in UZR and was second in defensive runs saved. Some other metrics weren’t great for him, but there’s no debating that he was a great defensive first baseman.

Ty France was the best player on the Mariners in 2021

The hitting though. His bat is special. You might look at his line and think I’m talking out the side of my mouth a bit. .291/.368/.445. Sure, it’s good, but it’s not like it’s anything that great.

Well, that’s where you would be wrong. Back on April 28th, Ty France was hit in the forearm during a game against the Astros in the third inning. He would go 3-42 after getting hit and finally going on the disabled list to let his arm heal. It also would drop his average 70+ points.

If not for that HBP, or if France would’ve just gone on the IL right away, his line would’ve been a lot nicer. The batting average would’ve jumped to .308. That sounds a lot nicer, especially in today’s game. That would’ve been the 10th best average in all of baseball. Wanna know who was right behind him? New Mariners second baseman, Adam Frazier.

Ty France was the best hitter on the Mariners. He had the best average by 18 points, best OBP by 16 points, and was second only to Haniger in SLG. Even better, it was in his first full season. He’s always been a great hitter, so getting something like this was the hope and a reasonable ceiling.

There is one thing that Ty France needs to work on a little bit though. Please, please, please stop getting hit by so many pitches. I don’t want to see you get plunked 27 times again next year, and I don’t think any other Mariners fans want to see it either.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone when I saw that I’m giving Ty France an A for 2021. Does he deserve an A+? I don’t actually think so. For anyone to get an A+, they need to have a legit special season. Ty France had the best season on the Mariners though, and I don’t think anyone can disagree with that. If you do, let me know. I wanna hear.