The Padres have added another arm to their pitching mix, signing right-hander J.P. France to a minor league deal, according to Chandler Rome of The Athletic. France, who was released from the Astros’ system on Thursday after spending the last three months on outright assignment at Triple-A Sugar Land, will head to San Diego’s Triple-A club in El Paso.
France’s big-league time this season was brief. He appeared in just three games for Houston in April before being designated for assignment, and the results were rough: six earned runs allowed in 6 2/3 innings, along with five walks and only four strikeouts.
His work in the minors has been better, though not enough to make the numbers shine. In 36 1/3 innings with Sugar Land, France posted a 3.72 ERA and struck out hitters at a solid 23.1% clip.
But the command issues were still there, with a 14.8% walk rate, and the underlying metrics paint a shakier picture. His 83.1% strand rate was likely doing a lot of the heavy lifting, while his 6.90 expected ERA and 6.00 xFIP suggest that the ERA was doing him some favors.
Across his major league career, France owns a 4.49 ERA in 172 1/3 innings, with most of that work coming in 2023. Since the start of 2024, he has a 7.00 ERA over 36 innings. For the Padres, that makes him a depth piece more than anything else.
San Diego’s bullpen already has plenty of higher-priority names ahead of him. Mason Miller has been dominant in the closer role, and Adrian Morejon has thrived as a setup man.
The Padres are only one game out of a Wild Card spot, and with A.J. Preller still steering the front office, they’re difficult to pin down as a clear buyer or seller.
Even so, the club appears to believe it has a real shot at the postseason, which is why it has set steep asking prices on Miller and Morejon in trade discussions.
Behind that top tier, the bullpen includes right-handers Bradgley Rodriguez and Jeremiah Estrada, along with Randy Vásquez as a long relief option. Rodriguez has put up a 2.28 ERA in 47 1/3 innings and looks secure unless something unexpected happens in a trade.
Estrada has punched out 30.0% of opposing hitters, though he’s stranded just 62.0% of them, so his 4.09 ERA may not tell the full story. France likely isn’t beating out either of those arms, and Vásquez hasn’t been optioned to Triple-A in nearly a year.
For now, France figures to wait in El Paso and hope an injury opens a door.
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