This Underrated Prospect Could Boost Astros' Bullpen Down the Stretch

Houston Astros' prospect J.P. France has thrived since moving to the bullpen in Triple-A Sugar Land and could be positioned well for a call-up if the Astros need bullpen help in September.

Houston Astros' pitching prospect J.P. France isn't on the radar of the national media. 

He' isn't a 'blue-chip' or 'can't-miss' prospect. France doesn't rank among the Astros' top 30 prospects on MLB.com's latest updated rankings. 

But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and the 27-year-old right-handed pitcher has shown enough promise to warrant a September promotion to the Astros' big league roster.

France was the Triple-A Sugar Land Space Cowboys' June Player of the Month, leading the Pacific Coast League in strikeouts (36) and ranking second in WHIP (0.97), fourth in ERA (2.92) and seventh in Opponent Batting Average (.220) over five appearances.

France recently made the switch from the Triple-A Sugar Land pitching rotation to the team's bullpen, and over his last four relief appearances, he's thrown nine scoreless innings, allowing just six hits and striking out 15.

JP France last four relief outings for @SLSpaceCowboys:

0.00 ERA, 9.0 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 15 K#Astros

— Astros Future (@AstrosFuture) August 27, 2022

France is catching fire at the right time, pitching in long relief.

“Pitching out of the pen is definitely different, but its not too bad," France said. "I knew that if I were to debut it would probably be out of the pen so better to get used to it now than later."

Starting pitchers often experience an uptick in velocity when moving to relief and pitching max-effort, instead of pacing themselves over seven innings. A move to the bullpen can greatly benefit some pitchers, and France seems to capitalizing on the recent change.

“I am still pitching with my whole arsenal," France said. "By letting me do that, I feel like it does have the potential to play up with only having to go through the lineup once in comparison to a possible three times. But throwing 1-2 innings at a time is nice."

France pitched primarily in relief his senior year of college at Mississippi State, making 23 of his 25 appearances out of the Bulldogs' arm barn, so pitching out of relief isn't foreign territory to him.

France grad-transferred to Mississippi State prior to 2018, after three seasons and a medical redshirt year at Tulane.

The Astros selected France in the 14th round of the 2018 MLB Amateur Draft. France has since grinded through the Astros' farm system and broke out in 2021, logging a 3.59 ERA and 6-1 record over 80.1 innings in Triple-A.

Active rosters will expand from 26 players to 28 players September 1. If France doesn't receive an immediate call-up, he could still be in line to be brought up before the end of the month.

France is heating up at the right time. Big league managers know all too well how valuable a hot hand can be down the stretch of the season. Given how France has pitched as of late — and if he keeps it up — he has a chance to be that hot hand out of the Astros' bullpen in September.

France's wife Jessica was a cast member on The Real World: Portland in 2013, and between 2013 and 2016, competed on four seasons of the long-running MTV competition series, The Challenge. 

Jessica visited the Jack Vita Show last month to discuss her time on reality television, her Christian faith, and life as a minor league baseball wife.

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