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“Trust me,” said France in an interview that can be heard on the latest episode of “Deep Left Field,” the Star’s baseball podcast.聽“That thought went through my mind as well.”

France arrived with the Jays hoping that George Springer would return quickly from a concussion suffered three days earlier, but Springer wound up missing three weeks, leaving an opening in the DH spot for France to fill. Two days after Springer came back, Guerrero went down with hamstring tightness, which put France right back on the field.

The Jays have played 20 games in the month of August and he has appeared in 18 of them. Not bad for someone who looked like he might be a square peg in a round hole on his new team.

With Springer healthy and Guerrero back as well 鈥� he was on deck to pinch-hit twice in Saturday’s 12-inning, 7-6 win聽鈥� France is likely to settle in to the job he was told he was here to do, and he’s fine with that.

“The main reason I’m here is to help Vlad and do whatever he needs to keep him healthy for October,” said the 31-year-old, in his seventh season in the majors. “Whether that’s him DHing a little bit more, a day off here and there, just making sure that he’s good to go in October. Because when he’s healthy and at his best, he’s one of the best players in the game.”

France’s arrival coincided with one of Guerrero’s big hot streaks. From the trade deadline until he left Monday’s game in Pittsburgh with his hamstring issue, Guerrero hit .323 with six doubles and six home runs in 16 games, posting an OPS of 1.083.

France, a California native, hasn’t matched those numbers聽鈥� not many can聽鈥� but he’s been a lot better since swapping the Twins’ red for Blue Jays’ blue.

France hit just .251 before being traded, with a .678 OPS that was 17 per cent worse than the average big-league hitter. After going 0-for-3 with a walk Saturday and聽driving in a run with a 10th-inning sacrifice fly, he is batting .308 with the Jays, with an above-average .777 OPS. And while not a gold-glove candidate, he has been flawless in the field.

France may have been given a boost by getting his first taste of the American League East.

“There’s nothing better than playing playoff-calibre baseball every night,” said France, who has now played in every division but the NL East. “A winning environment is fun and when you have a group of guys where every single guy is capable of getting the job done that night聽鈥� and knowing that when they say, ‘Play ball,’ you have a very good opportunity to win the game, it makes baseball fun.”

Especially in 色色啦. France was part of the Seattle Mariners team that upended the Jays in the 2022 playoffs. He started a sixth-inning rally that eventually knocked Jays starter Kevin Gausman from the game, beginning the cascade that saw the Jays blow an 8-1 lead in the greatest single-game collapse in MLB playoff history.

But before that happened聽鈥�

”When Teo(scar Hernandez) hit both those homers and the roof was closed, this place was shaking,” France said. “You can see how passionate this fan base is and their want and desire to win.”

France hasn’t been to the post-season since, but he believes this Jays team has the ingredients to get him back and make a deep run.

“This group can hit,” France said. “They can swing it. This team right now is a complete team. We do everything well.”