His first name, J.P., stands for Jonathan Patrick...Attended Archbishop Shaw HS in Marrero, La., graduating in 2013...was a four-year letterman at Archbishop Shaw and was First Team All-State, All-District and All-Metro as a junior and senior...posted a 7-1 record with a 0.37 ERA and 113 strikeouts in 64.1 innings as a senior...Went undrafted and went on to attend Tulane, where he pitched for three years (2014-17), missing the 2015 season due to injury...while at Tulane, earned his undergraduate degree in Homeland Security with an eye at eventually getting into law enforcement...Was a graduate transfer at Mississippi State in 2018...worked as a multi-inning reliever at MSU...helped the Bulldogs clinch an NCAA Super Regional berth by throwing seven innings of two-run ball vs. Oklahoma in the Regionals...MSU went on to the College World Series, losing in the semifinals to Oregon State...Following his 2018 season, selected by the Astros in the 14th round of the June 2018 Draft...signed by Astros scout Travis Coleman...In his first full Minor League season in 2019, struggled out of the gate and contemplated quitting the game...with encouragement from his girlfriend, France kept playing and turned in a productive season...his girlfriend, now his wife, the former Jessica McCain, appeared on The Real World: Portland and four seasons of The Challenge, which is a reality TV show on MTV...J.P. credits his wife to saving his career...Did not pitch in 2020 due to the Coronavirus shutdown, but instead used that time to improve his craft...worked with a personal trainer and overhauled his pitching mechanics, while throwing into a pitching net either at his future in-laws backyard in Fayetteville and back home in New Orleans...his former mechanics included a high leg kick, which France abandoned for a short and deceptive delivery that he features today...An outdoorsman, France is a bow hunter and hunts mostly whitetail deer in the offseason in Mississippi and Kansas...grew up duck hunting in Louisiana, but lost interest in it before transitioning to bow hunting, which he learned by watching YouTube videos...Was added to the Astros 40-man roster on Nov. 15, 2022...spent nearly the entire 2023 season in Houston, earning 149 days of Major League service.
2023
Rookie had a 3.83 ERA (58ER/136.1IP) with 101 strikeouts and a .263 opponent average during the regular season in what was his first Major League action...posted 14 starts of 6.0-plus innings...His 13 quality starts ranked first among AL rookies...also ranked tied for first in wins (11), third in ERA (3.83), fourth in opponent OPS (.737), fifth in WHIP (1.36), tied for seventh in opponent batting average (.263) and seventh in Pitching WAR produced by STATS (1.1) (min. 100 IP)…Did his best work on the road, posting a 3.11 ERA (23ER/66.1IP) in his 12 games on the road this season...ranked sixth among AL pitchers in road ERA by a starting pitcher (min. 60 IP)…Became one of 10 players in Astros history, and the first since Lance McCullers Jr. (2015-16), to record 136+ IP through their first 24 career appearances...also became one of two Astros pitchers with 11 winning decisions through their first 24 career outings, joining Roy Oswalt (2011)…Was not part of the Opening Day roster, but was promoted on May 6 before the Astros 33rd game...Was the best pitcher for Triple-A Sugar Land before his promotion, going 2-1 with a 2.33 ERA (5ER/19.1IP) in five games (three starts)…worked between the rotation and bullpen in the piggyback starter role with Sugar Land...had 26 strikeouts in 19.1 innings while allowing just nine hits for Sugar Land, posting a .136 (9x66) opponent average and a 1.03 WHIP...was named Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week (April 17-23) after hurling five scoreless innings, giving up just one hit and facing the minimum on April 22 vs. LV...Made his Major League debut at Seattle with a start on May 6...tossed five scoreless innings while allowing three hits and striking out five batters in a no-decision...struck out Julio Rodríguez for the first strikeout of his career, which was also the first batter he faced in his career...Allowed one earned run in 11.2 IP through his first two Major League starts...became the fourth pitcher in club history to work 5.0-plus inning while allowing one-or-fewer runs in each of his first two Major League starts...joined LHP Dallas Keuchel (2012), LHP Carlos Hernández (2001) and RHP Manny Hernández (1986)…Logged six consecutive quality starts from June 4-July 5 and logged 6+ innings in seven straight starts from May 29-July 5...the last Astros rookie with seven straight starts of 6.0+ was RHP Chris Sampson, who had a nine-game streak in 2007...the last Astros rookie with a streak of at least six straight quality starts in a single season was also Sampson, who went on a seven-game streak (May 11, 2007-June 13, 2007)…the only other Astros pitcher with a longer quality start streak this season was a seven-game streak from LHP Framber Valdez (April 4-May 9)…From June 29-Aug. 12, won seven straight winning decisions, which was the longest streak by an Astros pitcher this season...the last Astros rookie to win seven straight decisions was RHP Josh James (Sept. 18, 2018-Sept. 5, 2019)…Made his lone appearance out of the bullpen in the regular season on Aug. 6 at NYY, earning the win after hurling three innings and allowing one run (unearned) on three hits and three walks...Made his Postseason debut in 2023, making two appearances from the bullpen during the ALCS vs. TEX...in his first appearance of the playoffs, he threw 2.1 scoreless innings in Game 2 of the ALCS.
2022
Had a solid 2022 campaign in which he went 3-4 with a 3.90 ERA (48ER/110.2IP) in 34 games (15 starts) for Triple A Sugar Land...struck out 136 hitters in his 110.2 innings, while allowing a .233 opponent average...began his season working in the rotation or making multi-inning piggyback appearances...moved to a traditional relief role in late Aug., finishing his season with 12 consecutive relief appearances of 2.0-or-fewer innings...posted a 2.31 ERA (3ER/11.2IP) in nine relief appearances in Sept.
2021
Appeared in 18 games for the A's in Major League Spring Training in 2021, all as a call up from minor league camp...hit .250 (3x12) with two doubles and five RBI in Major League action...began the regular season at Triple-A Las Vegas, playing in 18 games... hit the minor league IL on June 11 and missed over a month...returned to action for the AZL Athletics, playing in four games on a minor league rehab assignment...activated from the IL and finished his season at Double-A Midland, playing in 41 games for the RockHounds...hit .243 (35x144) with seven doubles, seven homers and 17 RBI at the Double-A level...following the regular season, played for Caguas in the Puerto Rican Winter League, hitting .172 (15x87) with six homers and 17 RBI in 27 regular season games...also played in 11 postseason games for Caguas, hitting .209 (9x43) with two homers and seven RBI.
2020
Did not appear in a regular season game in 2020 do to the cancellation of the minor league season.
2019
Pitched the entire 2019 season at Class A Advanced Fayetteville, working mostly as a starter...started 20 games and made five relief appearances...marked his first season back in a starters role since his 2016 season at Tulane.
2018
Made his professional debut in 2018 for Short-Season Class A Tri-City, making six appearances... later promoted to Class A Quad Cities...combined to go 2-0 with a 0.50 ERA (1ER/18IP) with 28 strikeouts in 18.0 innings pitched...allowed a .164 opponent batting average and a 0.89 WHIP.
