How Can Jorge Polanco and Edouard Julien Coexist?

[Greggory Masterson]

In basketball, a saying goes, “There’s only one ball,” meaning that only one player can shoot at a time. In baseball, there’s only one second base.

Image courtesy of © Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

 

Jorge Polanco, one of the Twins' best hitters over the past decade, is due to return from a hamstring injury after his upcoming rehab assignment. It'll be a welcome addition to a lineup that has struggled to score runs in 2023. There's just one minor issue—the incumbent second baseman has been their best hitter this season.

Among Twins with at least 150 plate appearances, Edouard Julien leads the team in OPS, and he has been filling in at second base in Polanco's absence. For much of the season, Julien and Polanco have been sharing the position, in a way, as Julien has been with the MLB team during Polanco's numerous stints on the injured list, only to be demoted to AAA upon his return.

That charade should be at its end.

There needs to be room on this roster for Polanco and Julien, who represent two of the top five bats in this lineup. The issue is figuring out how the two can coexist.

Polanco has been the team's primary second baseman since 2021 after holding down shortstop for half of a decade. His shortstop days are behind him, and Carlos Correa is a fixture there anyway.

Julien has been playing second base exclusively since the beginning of the 2022 season. He's frankly not been good defensively, but the organization has been committed to keeping him there, for better or worse.

The Miami Marlins have played four second basemen simultaneously this season; it's doable. A few ways to handle this situation stand out, but none appear as a clear choice.

Demote Julien
This decision would be tough to justify, but it's the solution if the team refuses to move either off of second base, even temporarily. Polanco has had half a dozen lower body injuries in the last year, so it might not be long until Julien would have another free run at second base.

Of note, the Twins' have demoted Julien three times this season, and the next would be his fourth. Players can only be demoted five times per season before being exposed to waivers.

Polanco and/or Julien DH
This option is almost not worth discussing until there are firm signs of Byron Buxton returning to the outfield—to me, that will require seeing him out there in-game. So long as Buxton is active and the everyday designated hitter, there won't be regular opportunities to DH either of the second basemen.

Polanco or Julien Play Third Base
There is a current vacancy at third base. Royce Lewis suffered an intercostal injury and will likely be out until late August or September, leaving an opening at third base. The Twins recalled Jose Miranda to fill the gap, but he seemed to be on borrowed time with his current production prior to being placed on the injured list July 15th.

Moving one of the two infielders to the left side of the infield may be a solution. Polanco has some experience at third base, having played 77 innings there in 2016 and 86 more back during 2011 in Rookie ball. It's not much experience, but it's reasonable to ask for someone who was a big league shortstop for five years. However, it has been seven years since he's played third base in-game, and his body has been consistently beaten up for years, even before his trips to the injured list, which could make the team less comfortable asking the move of him.

On the other hand, Julien has more recent experience at the hot corner. He played 189 innings in Class A during the 2021 season and 65 games there in college at Auburn as a junior in 2019. The team has preferred to keep him at second, partly due to his arm strength after his 2019 Tommy John surgery.

It would be helpful if one of the two could fill in semi-regularly in Lewis's absence. It would also lead to a pretty subpar infield defense for the team, but that may be outweighed by the value of both bats being in the lineup.

Julien Plays First Base and/or Left Field
Julien does have additional experience outside of second and third base. He has 181 innings at first base and 119 innings in left field in the minors, all of which came in 2021 between the two Class A levels. He also played seven games in right field at Auburn. It's not much at all, but at least some experience.

If the team was more comfortable with Julien at first base, Alex Kirilloff could play in the outfield the days Julien plays first, or vice versa. It does add another left-handed corner outfielder to the Twins' pile, which is becoming absurdly large as-is, but it's an option.

Julien could also bounce around all of those positions, similar to early-career Luis Arraez, but with lesser defensive chops than Arraez, who won't be winning any Gold Gloves.

Trade One
I don't see this happening, but it's worth noting. Given Polanco's recent health issues, his value is unclear, so there's no guarantee they get anything of worth for him. Julien would fetch a good return, but he still has six years of team control after this year, and it's difficult to justify sending off your top hitter to make room for a 30-year-old with questionable health in a year that the team's hitting has been in the gutter.

We may never even get to the point where anything needs to happen. If there's one thing that Twins fans have learned in recent years, it's that injuries create solutions to these problems in ways we can't expect. How would you handle this situation?

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[twins_89]

My vote would be to put Buxton on the IL and let Julien DH.

[umterp23]

Polanco has 2 errors in 29 games at 2nd, Julien as 2 errors in 31 games.  Not sure the article commentary of "frankly not been good" applies.  He makes plays, flashy no, but makes plays.  

Trade Polanco and rotate Julien and Farmer at 2nd base and Julien can DH when Buxton goes on IL with exhaustion or neck injury from staring at the Jumbotron after walking back to the dugout.

Polanco's body is failing him more than ever this year, can't hurt to ship him out along with Miranda to see what you can get.  I don't see either one of them giving us much down the stretch

[Mike Sixel]

Polanco at third is my vote. Or Julien at first and AK to the outfield over Kepler.

[ashbury]

15 minutes ago, umterp23 said:

Polanco has 2 errors in 29 games at 2nd, Julien as 2 errors in 31 games.

Errors have been a decreasingly useful stat since the early 20th century.  MLB has of late taken pains to regularize the calling of errors by Official Scorers, generally in the direction of calling things base hits that look like errors to most of us, to the point that I don't find it (or its close relative, Fielding Percentage) a useful stat at all.

I do see that, in roughly similar innings so far this year, Julien has about 20% fewer total chances than Polanco per 9 innings.  Perhaps that reflects an unequal number of balls hit their respective way, or reflects a significant difference in range, or just reflects scorers' decisions on plays not made that take Julien off the hook by calling them base hits.  I don't know.  There are other measures of defense than this simple "range factor", and all of them have flaws.  The eye test for most of us seems to be consistent with the range factor for the year, and that is where I choose to stop thinking on this topic.  If the range factor is close to meaningful, then every couple of games, Polanco would make a play that turns into an out that Julien could not.

[umterp23]

24 minutes ago, ashbury said:

Errors have been a decreasingly useful stat since the early 20th century.  MLB has of late taken pains to regularize the calling of errors by Official Scorers, generally in the direction of calling things base hits that look like errors to most of us, to the point that I don't find it (or its close relative, Fielding Percentage) a useful stat at all.

I do see that, in roughly similar innings so far this year, Julien has about 20% fewer total chances than Polanco per 9 innings.  Perhaps that reflects an unequal number of balls hit their respective way, or reflects a significant difference in range, or just reflects scorers' decisions on plays not made that take Julien off the hook by calling them base hits.  I don't know.  There are other measures of defense than this simple "range factor", and all of them have flaws.  The eye test for most of us seems to be consistent with the range factor for the year, and that is where I choose to stop thinking on this topic.  If the range factor is close to meaningful, then every couple of games, Polanco would make a play that turns into an out that Julien could not.

I get it and I agree but like I said, he isn't flashy but he makes plays. The "hot take" that is flat out not good doesn't really fit the narrative.  

[ashbury]

2 minutes ago, umterp23 said:

I get it and I agree but like I said, he isn't flashy but he makes plays. The "hot take" that is flat out not good doesn't really fit the narrative.  

The "not good" hawt taek could come from a pitcher every second game he plays, who mutters to himself, "great, an extra baserunner I didn't deserve." 

[Nashvilletwin]

Consider the following:

1. Currently, Julien really only plays vs. RHers.  According to our current manager, he is not worthy of being an everyday player, but more of a platooner.

2. Rocco favours the higher-priced underperforming vets (Kepler, Gallo) over the possibly better performing up-and-comers who need ABs (Larnach, Wallner). We should not expect the thinking to differ with Julien vs. Polanco (or Farmer, Solano, or Castro, for that matter).

So, when Polanco returns, Julien likely catches an Uber over the river (that’s if he doesn’t get traded, lol).

[RpR]

The scorers have been  as extremely forgiving as some of the posters here; Julien should have a goodly larger number of errors than they scored.

He has a lead glove and is a detriment at 2nd, send Buxton to IL and play Julien as DH.

[Parfigliano]

Ditch Buxton at DH and rotate Polanco and Julien through 2B and DH.

Bux's is an anchor UNLESS he can play D.  He cant.  Anchor.  Wanna win realize it.

[Craig Arko]

Polanco to 2nd, Julien to 1st, Kiriloff to OF. It seems like the best bet.

[Florida Flash]

How about Julien at DH. Buxton is killing the team in the 3 or 4 hole. Either he is injured or waaay over hyped. It's half way through the season and they are beating a dead horse with the hype hype hype. Again I ask. Is that Rocco's decision or the FO?

[CRF]

They have to find a way to keep Julien's bat in the lineup. Whether it's at 2nd, DH, or even at 1B. The guy can flat out rake. We desperately need guys that can do that. If they ship him back to StP...it'll be a damn shame. 

[Fatbat]

Speaking of the Marlins, Polanco could help them out as they will actually have a chance to win a series or two this October.  It would be nice to trade Polanco and get some sort of decent prospect for him. 

[TNtwins85]

Julien is a perfect DH candidate. Send Buxton to the IL until he can play the OF. Give Polanco 2nd back until he gets hurt again. Let him walk after the season. Lee slides into 2nd base next year. He won’t be back in time to build any value unless we can find someone similar to the Twins who like trading for damaged goods. Lol

[Dman]

I would rotate the three of Buxton, Jullien and Polanco.  Buxton seems to need rest more often than not and if they really absolutely need him in lineup they can put him in center.  Jullien could DH against righties, Buxton against lefties and some righties.  Both could be good pinch hit options when not in the starting lineup as well.

Polanco is just getting back so he and Jullien could time share second some as well and Polanco could move over to third once in a while as well.  I think they can manage it that way for a while and see how it all plays out.  Wouldn't hurt to give all three players some time off here and there anyway.

[karcherd]

Good teams find a way to get their best players in the lineup regardless of position.  If the Twins send Julien down, it should signal the end for this decision making trio.  This would show they are either too inflexible or stubborn to find solutions to field the best team possible.  And Julien has played 3 innings this weekend, he can hit left handed pitchers.  Play him until he shows he can't.

[dxpavelka]

Not really an issue.  Julien is not really a second baseman.  Polanco plays second 4-5 days a week.  Julien plays there 1-2 days, plays 1B one day, 3B one day and DH once in a while. 

[mikelink45]

The problem is that our FO values our vets too much.  Kepler and Polanco should have been traded when value was high,  Keep the lineup fresh.  Buxton should have been traded too, but now he like Kep and Polanco has lost his value. I am just so confused by the FO take on the starting 9 bats.  

[mnfireman]

Buxton has full no trade protection.

If Gallo and/or Kepler can be traded for ANYTHING of value, Wallner and Julien have playing spots. Julien, Farmer and Polanco rotate through 2B/3B. Wallner and Julien can rotate through LF/RF depending on who's traded and all 4 can DH occasionally even if Buxton is not IL'd. 

[USAFChief]

2 hours ago, umterp23 said:

Polanco has 2 errors in 29 games at 2nd, Julien as 2 errors in 31 games.  Not sure the article commentary of "frankly not been good" applies.  He makes plays, flashy no, but makes plays.  

Trade Polanco and rotate Julien and Farmer at 2nd base and Julien can DH when Buxton goes on IL with exhaustion or neck injury from staring at the Jumbotron after walking back to the dugout.

Polanco's body is failing him more than ever this year, can't hurt to ship him out along with Miranda to see what you can get.  I don't see either one of them giving us much down the stretch

Julien's bat plays, but...he's really, really bad with a glove on. 

He absolutely doesn’t make plays. 

[Nashvilletwin]

Julien not in the lineup again today.  The A’s started three lefties, and Julien doesn’t see the field unless he pinch hits (which gets less likely late in tight games due to his defensive acumen). Meanwhile, Kepler is still starting today.
 

Getting Julien ABs when the switch hitting Polanco comes back will not be a priority.  They will probably send him down, let him hit everyday. Of course, that means Martin has to find a new position at AAA too.

They should just let the young guys play…..

[Parfigliano]

16 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Julien's bat plays, but...he's really, really bad with a glove on. 

He absolutely doesn’t make plays. 

Gee.  And its a team that needs bats.  Buxton has none nadda zip. 

Julien does. 

[USAFChief]

2 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

Gee.  And its a team that needs bats.  Buxton has none nadda zip. 

Julien does. 

Can't disagree

[IndianaTwin]

IT’s mom: “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

Polanco only started his rehab assignment today, and they’ve said that it will be “lengthy.”

By the time he returns other transactions will likely have happened, whether injury or trade that will open up the at bats needed.   

[Riverbrian]

Julien is not a good 2B. Julien is a very good hitter. He might be the best hitter on the team. 

We need good hitters.

If the Twins send down what might be the best hitter we have on the roster. They will demonstrate for all that they are not very serious about fixing the offensive issues. 

Play him at whatever spot gets his bat into this lineup. If it's multiple spots... it's multiple spots. 

[ashbury]

So far in the majors, Julien has been given a paltry 18 plate appearances.

Those 18 have been, ahem, unrewarding.

But that hasn't been his track record in the minors.

[Riverbrian]

49 minutes ago, ashbury said:

So far in the majors, Julien has been given a paltry 18 plate appearances.

Those 18 have been, ahem, unrewarding.

But that hasn't been his track record in the minors.

His defense hasn't been good but the Twins seem committed to playing him at 2B. I assume in the hope that he gets better at it and he settles in as a decent defensive 2B down the road. 

They seem to be committed to that. 

No such commitment against left handed pitching.  

 

[ashbury]

Just now, Riverbrian said:

His defense hasn't been good but the Twins seem committed to playing him at 2B. I assume in the hope that he gets better at it and he settles in as a decent defensive 2B down the road. 

They seem to be committed to that. 

No such commitment against left handed pitching.  

 

Somehow my fact-checking editor failed to alert me that I omitted "against LHP."

I meant, against LHP, in case I was unclear.

Against LHP, he's had 18 PA.

Just the lefties.

[Riverbrian]

1 minute ago, ashbury said:

Somehow my fact-checking editor failed to alert me that I omitted "against LHP."

I meant, against LHP, in case I was unclear.

Against LHP, he's had 18 PA.

Just the lefties.

I saw the LHP in my head.