The Houston Astros entered the season with an embarrassment of riches on the mound. Framber Valdez, Luis Garcia, Jose Urquidy, Lance McCullers Jr, Hunter Brown, and Cristian Javier all figured to be in or near the starting rotation. There were even questions of how the Astros would manage to get all of their talented pitchers enough chances in a year where they wanted to defend their title and repeat as World Series Champions.
Like most things, the Astros “on-paper” rotation did not work out as originally planned. McCullers never got fully healthy and suffered a setback that put him out for the year. Garcia suffered a season-ending injury on April 29th. The very next day, Urquidy went down and still has yet to return. All of a sudden the excess depth turned to a scarcity.
The first response by the club was to call up Brandon Bielak. That made sense: Bielak has been an inning-eater at times throughout the past three seasons. Then on May 6th, the Astros called up a minor leaguer to presumably make a spot start and eat innings. That gave JP France his first chance.
France attended high school on the west bank of New Orleans at Archbishop Shaw. He was a decorated player there, and chose to stay close to home and play college ball for Tulane. During three seasons, including one missed year due to injury, he compiled a 13-12 record with a 4.01 ERA for the Green Wave, eventually finding himself in the weekend rotation.
Following the 2017 season, France decided to transfer to the SEC to play his final collegiate season for Mississippi State under coach Andy Cannizaro. Working mostly as a reliever, France compiled a 3.77 ERA for the Bulldogs.
While JP was certainly a very good college pitcher, he never quite emerged as that front-end ace that you would expect to have a fast track to the big leagues. That was reflected when the Astros made him a 14th-round pick in the 2018 Amateur Draft.
France’s journey through the minor leagues was similar to his collegiate career: solid. He continued to put up reliable numbers, including never finishing a minor league season with an ERA of over 4.31. In 2022, he completed a full season in AAA with- once again- consistent numbers.
Despite continued consistency, France entered the 2023 season somewhat buried in the organization’s prospect list. Many were speaking about former top pick Forrest Whitley as a dark horse to help the Astros during the season. France, however, started the season in AAA and got off to a great start through three starts. That is why he was called up on May 6th.
The expectations when France was called up were fairly low. He was replacing a couple of injured pitchers and had no Major League experience. It would not have been surprising if he made a start or two and was sent back down to AAA. In France’s first two starts, however, he went 11 2/3 innings, allowing just one earned run.
After a great beginning to his MLB career, a couple of “uh-oh” moments would follow. France gave up 11 earned runs over his next three starts, including 10 of those runs coming in two of the outings. The “Cinderella” run looked like it might come to an end.
JP had other ideas. He would go at least six innings in his next six starts. Additionally, he has not given up more than three earned runs since then, spanning nine outings. His ERA has been lowered to 2.87, which is lower than any season he has had in college or professional baseball. In summary, JP France is having his best season as a pitcher since he was at Archbishop Shaw High School, facing 13-17 year olds.
The emergence of France quite literally may have saved the Astros’ season. Not only has the team continued to deal with injuries, but many of their starting pitchers have struggled. Brown, Javier, and even Valdez have shown signs of wear, and had clunky outings. France has been rock solid, and despite lower expectations than all, he has firmly positioned himself in the Rookie of the Year conversation.
Time will tell if JP can keep going at this rate. He is only 30 innings shy of his career high for innings pitched at any level. The expectations have risen and so will the pressure of a division race, playoff chase, and World Series defense. Regardless of how the year finishes, it has been one incredible summer for the Astros’ newest rotation regular.
Dawson Eiserloh is the co-host of “RP3, D-Loh & Meche” which is broadcast weekdays (11AM-1PM) on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette and 104.1 Lake Charles — Southwest Louisiana’s Sports Station.