Twins’ Ty France brings peculiar skill to his new team: He’s mastered the HBP

FORT MYERS, FLA. - No team in modern baseball history had ever been hit by as many pitches as the Mariners’ 116 last season, but the Twins were close. Led by Willi Castro’s team-record 21, the Twins were plunked 101 times, their all-time high and second-most in MLB.

Apparently intent upon claiming that mark for themselves, this year the Twins brought in a ringer to chase down Seattle’s record, and an impressive one: the most plunked Mariner ever.

Yes, “Target” Field sounds like the perfect home for this team.

“I guess you’ve got to be known for something,” said Ty France, though it’s not clear that his 95 career impacts with errant pitches, most ever by a member of the Mariners, is what he had in mind.

Regardless, it’s a skill he’s both proud of and frightened by.

“It’s definitely a tool. It ends up with you on base, so that’s important,” said France, who has equaled or bettered Castro’s 21 HBPs three times in the past four seasons. “Obviously it’s not something I enjoy. It’s not fun getting hit. It’s just part of my game. I stand close to the plate, and guys try to run sinkers in or hard stuff in, and they just miss.”

France is something of a beanball savant. His 105 career HBPs rank 78th in major league history, yet he’s played only 702 games; nobody else in the top 120 on that list has played fewer. He’s twice led the American League in getting smacked by pitches, and two years ago he was hit 34 times, third-most ever in a single season.

Yet the first baseman isn’t sure whose pain was worse, his own or that of his wife, Maggie.

“She definitely doesn’t love all the bumps and bruises I come home with. It can be scary,” France said. “Helmets have saved me a few times. The worst was one that hit the bill, before I started wearing the [face-protecting] flap. One inch lower, and my eye would be gone.”

He credits — or maybe blames — his college teammates at San Diego State, where he racked up 48 plunkings in three seasons, for his willingness to accept that risk.

“We were praised for not getting out of the way, kind of standing in there and wearing the pitch for the good of the team. You know, take your base,” France said. “It stems back to that, and I’ve just kind of carried that my whole career.”

His employers have noticed.

“He’s built like a pit bull. And he apparently can handle it,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Adding him to Willi [Castro] and Matt Wallner [who was hit 16 times in 2024] and putting him in that group — we like guys that can hit and draw walks, but if you’re going to continually get on base [by] getting whacked, so be it. It’s worked out OK for him.”

Mostly, yes, though there have been exceptions. Last June, for instance, a back-foot slider from Royals righthander Daniel Lynch banged into his right heel. France surpassed Edgar Martinez’s Mariners-leading career total on that pitch, but it also fractured the bone, an injury that, while it sidelined him for only 10 days, essentially fractured his ability to hit; his OPS was only .621 from that point on.

“The one that broke the record broke me,” France said, shaking his head.

Now he’s bringing his talent as a target to the Twins, where Castro believes he can learn from France’s expertise.

“I can probably get a few more this year,” Castro said. “I’m standing closer sometimes, depending on the pitcher. If it’s a wild pitcher, I like to get on the plate and make it even more difficult for him, put pressure on [him]. That might get me hit more.”

Could be a pretty good race for the smackdown title. Right?

France considered the question and smiled. “I’m hope he wins it,” he said.