It just hasn’t gotten better for Ty France

Yesterday’s loss to the Texas Rangers stung, as the Seattle Mariners brought a poor approach - or at least poor execution - to Arlington against Dane Dunning. Swinging the bat is an enticing way to win a baseball game, but one of the core lessons of the expansion of analytics in baseball still holds true: getting on base is all good, no matter how. And yet, for Ty France, whose wRC+ sits now at exactly 100, with a .247/.335/.357 line that accurately highlights a career-low ISO, his primary value to the club has slipped into territory that’s been hard to overcome.

France’s skillset is an uncommon one, no matter what time period you look at across baseball. He has long been an above-average…