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France (shoulder) struck out four and allowed one run on four hits and one walk over 2.1 innings Saturday in the Astros' 6-1 loss to the Mets in Grapefruit League play.
France fell short of the three innings he had expected to cover in his spring debut, but he reached the 50-pitch mark and was able to generate 11 swings and misses on the day. Per Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle, France's delayed buildup during spring training while he battled shoulder inflammation isn't expected to derail his bid for the Opening Day rotation, especially after a spot opened up for him due to Justin Verlander (shoulder) being set to begin the campaign on the injured list. Kawahara notes that France has been working on adding a sinker to his arsenal in 2024 to provide another weapon to combat right-handed hitters. Though he held lefties to a .678 OPS over his 136.1 innings as a rookie in 2023, righties posted a .789 OPS while the right-handed France leaned mostly on a four-seam fastball, cutter and sweeping slider in those matchups versus same-handed hitters.
