Prospect Retrospective: Edouard Julien

[Cody Christie]

Edouard Julien put himself on the prospect map during the 2022 season, and now he’s getting his first big-league call-up. Let’s examine his journey to this point in his professional career.

Image courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Twins drafted Edouard Julien in the 18th round of the 2019 MLB Draft from Auburn University. In two collegiate seasons, he hit .266/.393/.501 (.894) with 21 doubles, one triple, and 27 home runs in 127 games. His college career exemplified many skills he has shown as a professional, with high on-base totals and a powerful swing. He spoke French and Spanish, but very little English when he got to Auburn as an 18-year-old, so he dealt with a language barrier early in his college career.

He was draft-eligible as a sophomore because MLB ruled that his secondary school year in Canada counted as a collegiate season. Minnesota signed him for $493,000, which is well over slot for that late in the draft. Shortly after signing, Julien hurt his elbow in the Pan Am Games, which forced him to have Tommy John surgery. He recovered for the 2020 season, but there were no minor-league games during the pandemic, so his professional debut was pushed back to 2021. 

During his first season, he split time between Low-A and High-A while playing four different defensive positions. In 112 games, he hit .267/.434/.480 (.914) with 28 doubles, one triple, 18 home runs, and led all minor leaguers with 110 walks. He was the first Twins prospect with 100 walks in a season since Bobby Kielty two decades earlier. It was a solid pro debut, but his 2022 season pushed him into the conversation as a global top-100 prospect. 

Julien spent the 2022 season at Double-A Wichita and posted some impressive numbers. He hit .300/.441/.490 (.931) with 19 doubles, three triples, and 17 home runs in 113 games. He added 98 walks to his resume and has walked more than any other minor-league hitter over the last two seasons combined. Minnesota wanted him to build off his breakout year, so they sent him to the Arizona Fall League, and he continued to blossom. 

The AFL can be a league that favors hitters more than pitchers, but Julien put up video game numbers. In 21 games, he hit .400/.563/.686 (1.248) with five doubles and five home runs. He went a perfect 6-for-6 in stolen base attempts and had more walks (23) than strikeouts (22). For his performance, Julien was named the 2022 AFL Breakout Player of the Year. According to the award criteria, it is given to the player that took the Fall League opportunity to propel himself into serious prospect status.

Entering the 2023 season, Julien moved into Twins Daily’s top five prospects, a jump of five places from earlier in the year. The Twins also gave him opportunities this spring in his first year on the 40-man roster. In eight games, he went 8-for-23 (.348 BA) with three home runs and six runs. He might have gotten more opportunities with the Twins, but he was given the opportunity to play for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic. Even without any big-league experience, he was thrust into the lead-off spots and responded in a big way. In four games, he went 7-for-13 (.538 BA) with two doubles, two home runs, and five walks. It looked like he was more than ready for the big leagues. 

Minnesota optioned Julien to Triple-A while he was away from the club during the WBC. He had never played a game above Double-A, and the Twins had plenty of veteran options ahead of him on the depth chart. He continued his strong hitting in St. Paul by going 9-for-31 with two doubles, two home runs, and seven walks across nine games. He was pulled early from Tuesday night's game in Indianapolis because he got called up to the Twins. 

So, what does Julien bring to the Twins? He has been an on-base machine at every professional level, and he will bring that patient approach to the Twins line-up. It will be interesting to see how big-league pitchers approach him early in his career because some scouting reports say he can be too passive sometimes in his desire to see pitches. His hit tool is among the best in the Twins system, and the Twins hope he can add something to an offense that has struggled to start the year. 

He also doesn’t have a clear defensive home, with the Twins using him primarily at second base over the last two seasons. Julien is replacing Joey Gallo on the roster, but it isn’t a perfect one-for-one swap regarding their defensive abilities. Julien has fewer than 200 defensive innings at first base, third base, and outfield in his professional career. Also, Jorge Polanco and Alex Kirilloff have started their rehab assignments, so seeing how long Julien can stick on the roster will be interesting. 

Hopefully, Julien’s performance is strong enough that the Twins will have a tough time ever sending him back to Triple-A. What do you think Julien can bring to the Twins? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. 

For much more on Edouard Julien, click here for all Twins Daily articles and videos in which Julien was tagged. 

 

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[bighat]

Thanks for the great writeup. I'd love to see him stick, I think it's pretty clear the Twins need offense and I hope they turn him loose and let him play. 

Starting around 2015, the Twins saw Byron Buxton, Sano, Kepler, Polanco and Arraez all come up from the farm to solidify a core of a rather successful squad for years. Alas, we haven't seen the same stability with our more recent prospects.  

With Wallner, Kirilloff and Larnach, I think we can all admit that things haven't gone as we'd hoped. It's still unclear to see whether or not they will be core members of successful Twins teams in the future. Injuries are certainly a big factor. Even our prized gem, Royce Lewis - who looks every bit as good as advertised - has been bitten by the injury bug. 

The Twins are due for some lightning in a bottle. Let's hope Julien starts a prospect resurrection at Target Field, starting today! 

[Doctor Gast]

We desperately need a lead off hitter like Julien. Julien should stick as a LH 1B, even after Gallo returns. I wondered why they didn't give Julien more time at 1B. I suppose they didn't think he needed it and they figured that they could stretch him into a 2B man. Much like they tried to do with Martin at SS.

Wish him the best and he'd be able shine up here & give us that spark to ignite this offense. IMO that Julien will shine here and that Kiriloff might have to prove himself before he'd be able to take over 1B. Very happy for Julien & the Twins. 

[Karbo]

Miranda, Larnach, Ryan, & Duran are a pretty good start to a solid young core. Now if Julian can pan out and AK can get right looks pretty good for the future.

[mikelink45]

Please Julien - step in for Arraez.  We need your OBP more than Gallo's Ks.  I like the swap.

Now if Miranda can get hot, Julien can get on base, and some highly paid SS starts hitting we can match the pitching that we are getting. 

[miracleb]

Our line-up against righthanded pitchers has been brutal.....this will make the entire line-up "look" better!

[FlyingFinn]

Julien really fits in at the leadoff spot. But with Kirilloff and Polanco on their way back and Buxton probably still at DH, I don't think there is any way he avoids another stop in St. Paul, no matter how well he does. I hope I'm wrong and he does so well at getting on base, that Buxton is forced to play CF so Julien can be the DH against RH's.

[Dave Borton]

Quote

The AFL can be a league that favors hitters more than pitchers, but Julien put up video game numbers. In 21 games, he hit .400/.563/.686 (1.248)...

I saw him play 3 of the 4 games for Canada in the WBC/Phoenix, where he mashed .538 BA. Small sample but hopefully indicative of his bat.

 

 

[saviking]

What a pleasant surprise!

[Mortimerkenny21]

May the baseball God's shine upon him! 

[jccracraft]

Hopefully he gets plugged in at 2B, and move Gordan to CF in the short term.

[2wins87]

I was pretty skeptical of Julien when he was walking 20%+ of the time in low A, but also striking out 25%+.

Maintaining basically those same rates all the way up the minor league ladder was surprising and impressive.  But what's really got me believing in Julien now is how much power he has, especially for a guy that doesn't necessarily look it.  He routinely hits opposite field homers and hits some real bombs from time to time too.

I'm excited to see what he does and hope he can make the transition quickly.

[2wins87]

2 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

We desperately need a lead off hitter like Julien. Julien should stick as a LH 1B, even after Gallo returns. I wondered why they didn't give Julien more time at 1B. I suppose they didn't think he needed it and they figured that they could stretch him into a 2B man. Much like they tried to do with Martin at SS.

Wish him the best and he'd be able shine up here & give us that spark to ignite this offense. IMO that Julien will shine here and that Kiriloff might have to prove himself before he'd be able to take over 1B. Very happy for Julien & the Twins. 

I think for his future versatility he needed reps at 2B more than anywhere else since he's already kind of stretched there.  I'm hoping he has a good showing with the bat in this stint, but likely gets pushed back to St Paul when Polanco, Kirrilloff, Kepler, and Gallo start coming back.  At that point hopefully he gets some time at 1B and corner outfield with the Saints so he is ready to play more of a utility bat role when he gets up next, sort of like what they did with Lewis last year.

It'd probably be a better defensive alignment to have Julien at 1B and Solano at 2B, but given Julien's experience so far we probably will only see the other way around for this stint.

[chinmusic]

With the Twins as banged up as they are, the lineup has been scary. ie. anemic

This is exciting. I remember Eddie Rosario homering in his first AB.  Maybe that's just an "Eddie " thing.

I'm just going to watch this unfold, starting today.

Bonne chance, M. Julien!