The Los Angeles Angels and Houston Astros received plenty of hype entering the 2022 season. Los Angeles finally made some moves to upgrade their pitching staff while featuring superstars Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout in their lineup. Houston has been the class of the American League West over the past few years and they are still a force to be reckoned with. However, it is the Seattle Mariners who currently are in first place in the division.

The Mariners are the Best of the West

Seattle made their share of moves during the offseason as well. The Mariners signed AL reigning Cy Young winner Robbie Ray to lead their rotation, and acquired Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez from the Reds via trade. After narrowly missing the playoffs in 2021, Seattle desperately wanted to improve in 2022. And the desperation to win only increased given the fact that Seattle currently owns baseball's longest playoff drought (20 years).

For all of the new players they acquired and exciting young prospects on the team this year, there is one X-Factor who has led the Mariners to their outstanding start this season.

The Seattle Mariners have been led by… Ty France.

Ty France: The X-Factor

France is certainly not the biggest name in the MLB. But his bat has not disappointed so far in 2022. The infielder is slashing .375/.459/.656 with an incredible 1.116 OPS. France has also displayed his sneaky power as evidenced by five home runs already.

Arguably the most impressive statistic is the fact that he has almost walked more than he has struck out, as France has 7 walks compared to just 8 strikeouts.

Is he capable of producing at an elite level all year long? His 43.6 hard hit percentage and 37.5 line drive percentage suggest he can. France is also striking out under 11 percent of the time.

No, he is not going to hit .375 all season. But there is a possibility that France will have a breakout 2022 campaign. Outfielder Jesse Winker believes France has already broken out.

He commented on France's strong start to the season and discussed whether he believes the infielder tends to go under-the-radar.

“I don’t think that’s the case. I think Ty France is very well known. I’ve known about Ty France since we were young bucks in high school … I’ve always been a believer in how special the ballplayer Ty France is.”

The Mariners are playing tremendous baseball right now and could upset the Angels and Astros in the division. They are hopeful that Ty France can stay hot moving forward as they look to snap their postseason drought in 2022.