Edouard Julien is Proving Himself a Worthy Replacement for Jorge Polanco

[Sherry Cerny]

The Twins fan base felt a twinge of pain when the club traded second baseman Jorge Polanco to Seattle on Jan. 29. The team got quite a haul from the Mariners, but already, we've seen some reminders this spring that the primary reason for making the move was a player they already had.

Image courtesy of © Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Jorge Polanco again battled durability issues in 2023, missing significant time due to ankle, knee, and hamstring injuries, but he did register a .789 OPS with 14 home runs across 80 games. Even though he was clutch at the plate and what some call “the glue” in the clubhouse, his creeping physical limitations and struggles to play defense showed. He only appeared in 58 games at second base, and another 15 at third, late in the campaign. He spent as much time as a DH and pinch-hitter as he did at the hot corner.

After coming up as a shortstop, Polanco had to move to second base in 2021, and even there, he quickly became a bit of a liability. While his bat was clutch at times, and his presence was a boost in the clubhouse, that doesn’t keep a player at the top of a good team's depth chart forever. This season, the Twins have a real chance to make it further into the postseason, and changes had to be made.

In his 2023 rookie season with the Twins, Edouard Julien played two positions, some in Polanco's absence and even upon his return. He played second base for 535 innings and first base for a paltry 17. In addition to making huge strides in terms of range and arm utility, he made only two errors between the two positions all season.

Defensive Glow-Up
Julien is no Mookie Betts. Still, his increasing effectiveness at second base far outweighed that of Polanco in the last few seasons, with Polanco missing time due to mounting injuries and ineffectiveness. Julien’s defense last season (and thus far this season) has been a massive factor in keeping other teams from running up the scoreboard. In the past two series against the Dodgers and the Tigers (in fact, since the disastrous game against the Royals on Easter), no team has gotten over 8 runs on the Twins' pitching and defense. In 102 innings of play this season alone, Julien himself has 14 putouts, 34 assists, four double plays, and just one error at second base, committed Monday night in Baltimore. Defensively, he is one of the best players on the Twins.

Julien's defensive skills alone make him a valuable asset to the team. His development has been greatly influenced by his interactions with players like Carlos Correa and Kyle Farmer, who have played a significant role in enhancing the effectiveness of the infield. Advanced defensive metrics love him. 

Along with his defense, his plate appearances and ability to make pitchers run up their numbers and draw walks are equally dangerous. Matt Trueblood addressed his plate appearances in a short piece last week, saying his lack of aggression was worrisome. However, if we were to judge solely on plate appearances, the entire team would lack aggression. Julien, in fact, seems to have begun leading them out of that quagmire over the last handful of games.

Julien's Bat has a Breakthrough
The Twins' entire offense has looked like they were statues at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, or waiting for the bats to swing themselves, but something clicked, and game three against the Dodgers proved that it’s just “early” in the season. Center fielder Byron Buxton broke the 0-for-33 team-wide drought with runners in scoring position, and Julien broke out of his 12-strikeout slump and powered the team with two home runs to drive up the score and give the pitching a much-needed break. The dynamic lefty batter hasn’t slowed down since. He is even getting better hitting off lefty pitchers; if he can master that, he will be unstoppable. 

In both the series against the Dodgers and the Tigers, Julien looked like his old self, waiting for the perfect pitch and driving it when it came. He made pitchers work, and helped the Twins secure two wins over the Tigers and the final game with the Dodgers. Julien locked in five hits, three home runs and four RBIs in that cluster of contests. His patience at the plate has truly shown to be back in balance over those two series. He is sixth in the American League for home runs. 

With the Injuries to Correa, Max Kepler, and Royce Lewis, and with Buxton having a cool bat, even with his slow start, Julien is one of the best two-way players that the team has. Trading Polanco to secure his spot on the team was a good decision by the front office. It’s exciting to watch Julien reign again!

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[Riverbrian]

[Riverbrian]

37 minutes ago, Sherry Cerny said:

With the Injuries to Correa, Max Kepler, and Royce Lewis, and with Buxton having a cool bat, even with his slow start, Julien is one of the best two-way players that the team has. Trading Polanco to secure his spot on the team was a good decision by the front office.

What the hell does this even mean? 

Are you actually saying Julien is one of the best two-way players because Correa, Kepler and Lewis are hurt and because Buxton is sucking. Otherwise he'd be fifth? 

Are you saying that Julien's place on the roster wasn't secure because of Polanco? This first or fifth best player isn't secure because of Polanco?

Does that mean that Polanco would have been 1st, 2nd 3rd, 4th or 5th... which would have knocked Julien down to 2nd or 6th? So thank heavens we got rid of the better player so Julien can rise up that depth chart? 

 

 

[Riverbrian]

[CRF]

Not sure I agree with the "quite a haul" part for Polanco, but Julien is going to be a very solid player. His bat won't be a problem at all, and his defense is tremendously improved. It's obvious that he really works on that aspect. He needs to stay in the lineup against lefties too. I wish Rocco would figure that out. 

[Riverbrian]

Polanco and Julien can exist on the same roster!!!

If anyone doesn't believe that.

Enjoy your Carlos Santana. 

[Jocko87]

While I'm sure this was written before he gave those two above average outs back last night early returns on the defense have been good.

But let's pump the breaks on the DPOY voting for just a few months. Defensive statistics being what they are, small sample sizes aren't exactly crowning achievements.

I will say that if I thought he could improve this much on defense it would have changed a few of my assumptions for the off-season.

 

[TwinsDr2021]

41 minutes ago, CRF said:

Not sure I agree with the "quite a haul" part for Polanco, but Julien is going to be a very solid player. His bat won't be a problem at all, and his defense is tremendously improved. It's obvious that he really works on that aspect. He needs to stay in the lineup against lefties too. I wish Rocco would figure that out. 

So many things in here that are a huge stretch it was hard to read this about my favorite Twins and it made me feel very uncomfortable. It felt like a promotional article instead of a baseball article.

[mikelink45]

Julien is 200/286/480.  Too early for a promotional piece.  And I really like him, but not ready for this.  His fielding according to BR is a -6 RTOT and -4 in defensive runs saved so far this year.  

[Doctor Gast]

I'm sorry Sherry, I disagree with everything you wrote. I like Julien a lot but he's not a 2Bman. OAA can be very deceiving especially when you have the best coaching you in how to cheat (in positioning). What you need to look at is the actual range or even sprint speed (which Julien ranks very low) & DPs, MN ranked next to the bottom last season even with Correa. And it appears that he's worse this season, especially now w/o Correa covering for him. Last season Julien was the jewel of this team's "all or nothing" approach. This season he has yet come close to match that standard & he has trouble hitting LHPs. 

Polanco had been abused by this organization by playing hurt most of his career yet not spending time on the IL until '22. '21 was his 1st & only year he played healthy at 2B, where he played very well. If he had started at 2B from the beginning he'd have more all-star appearances as he had at SS in '19. Polanco had been our best clutch hitter until Lewis appeared on the scene hitting well at both sides of the plate.

We lost on the trade, losing one of our best players & receiving no one that will contribute anything this season. I could further debate on this but I won't.

 

[terrydactyls]

1 hour ago, Jocko87 said:

While I'm sure this was written before he gave those two above average outs back last night early returns on the defense have been good.

 

The article clearly states that Julien's only error was on Monday.

[Sherry Cerny]

2 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

What the hell does this even mean? 

Are you actually saying Julien is one of the best two-way players because Correa, Kepler and Lewis are hurt and because Buxton is sucking. Otherwise he'd be fifth? 

Are you saying that Julien's place on the roster wasn't secure because of Polanco? This first or fifth best player isn't secure because of Polanco?

Does that mean that Polanco would have been 1st, 2nd 3rd, 4th or 5th... which would have knocked Julien down to 2nd or 6th? So thank heavens we got rid of the better player so Julien can rise up that depth chart? 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Doctor Gast said:

I'm sorry Sherry, I disagree with everything you wrote. I like Julien a lot but he's not a 2Bman. OAA can be very deceiving especially when you have the best coaching you in how to cheat (in positioning). What you need to look at is the actual range or even sprint speed (which Julien ranks very low) & DPs, MN ranked next to the bottom last season even with Correa. And it appears that he's worse this season, especially now w/o Correa covering for him. Last season Julien was the jewel of this team's "all or nothing" approach. This season he has yet come close to match that standard & he has trouble hitting LHPs. 

Polanco had been abused by this organization by playing hurt most of his career yet not spending time on the IL until '22. '21 was his 1st & only year he played healthy at 2B, where he played very well. If he had started at 2B from the beginning he'd have more all-star appearances as he had at SS in '19. Polanco had been our best clutch hitter until Lewis appeared on the scene hitting well at both sides of the plate.

We lost on the trade, losing one of our best players & receiving no one that will contribute anything this season. I could further debate on this but I won't.

 

That’s okay! You can disagree. I see things totally different. I’m not worried about his speed considering he is one of two players who have actually stolen a base, when Buxton and Castro haven’t. There is also an argument for his last three games and I think it only gets better for him. 

[Rod Carews Birthday]

Eddie Julien is a good player who looks like he will continue to get better.  I’m not sure of the point of this article though.  The Polanco trade happened.  We’re not reversing it now.  There’s no weeping and gnashing of teeth necessary here, as Julien can fill the job more than adequately.   There is also no need for a Twins victory lap on the trade either, as Polanco was a valuable player for them.  I agreed with the trade at the time and still do, regardless of what Polanco does or doesn’t do with the Mariners.  

While Julien is not a defensive master, it has been apparent that he has improved greatly from the beginning of last season.  I think it is ridiculous for people to point to his error on Monday as the definitive proof that his defense sucks.  EVERY player makes errors.  To look at it this way takes SSS to the level of absurd.  A larger sample is always good and the largest sample possible is needed to judge defensive prowess.  

[Major League Ready]

2 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

What the hell does this even mean? 

Are you actually saying Julien is one of the best two-way players because Correa, Kepler and Lewis are hurt and because Buxton is sucking. Otherwise he'd be fifth? 

Are you saying that Julien's place on the roster wasn't secure because of Polanco? This first or fifth best player isn't secure because of Polanco?

Does that mean that Polanco would have been 1st, 2nd 3rd, 4th or 5th... which would have knocked Julien down to 2nd or 6th? So thank heavens we got rid of the better player so Julien can rise up that depth chart? 

 

 

Polanco's wRC+ 2023 was 118.  It's 89 this year   /  Julien's wRC+ 120 in 2023 was 136.  It's 120 this year.

So far this year, Polanco's OAA -1   /  Juliens OA 2

In what way is Polanco the better player?

[Sherry Cerny]

2 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

What the hell does this even mean? 

Are you actually saying Julien is one of the best two-way players because Correa, Kepler and Lewis are hurt and because Buxton is sucking. Otherwise he'd be fifth? 

Are you saying that Julien's place on the roster wasn't secure because of Polanco? This first or fifth best player isn't secure because of Polanco?

Does that mean that Polanco would have been 1st, 2nd 3rd, 4th or 5th... which would have knocked Julien down to 2nd or 6th? So thank heavens we got rid of the better player so Julien can rise up that depth chart? 

 

 

 No, I don't think he is one of the best two way players because of injury. I am saying that he is making his mark and learning not only quickly, but his defense is one of the best on the team. he's not the best, I don't know if he ever will be considering the players we have - but considering Lewis and Correa are hurt, he's doing a hell of a job and that's thanks to the leadership on the team. I never said his place wasn't secure, what I said was that in POLANCO'S ABSENCE. I never said Polanco had to be the one to get traded, I said it made sense and Julien is stepping up. You are clearly reading too far into it, With everything that is going wrong with the team, it's nice to see that Julien is giving his best and then some. You don't have to agree, I am simply pointing out why Julien is defensively better than Polanco. 

[Sherry Cerny]

7 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

Polanco's wRC+ 2023 was 118.  It's 89 this year   /  Julien's wRC+ 120 in 2023 was 136.  It's 120 this year.

So far this year, Polanco's OAA -1   /  Juliens OA 2

In what way is Polanco the better player?

THANK YOU!!!!!

[Sherry Cerny]

10 minutes ago, Rod Carews Birthday said:

Eddie Julien is a good player who looks like he will continue to get better.  I’m not sure of the point of this article though.  The Polanco trade happened.  We’re not reversing it now.  There’s no weeping and gnashing of teeth necessary here, as Julien can fill the job more than adequately.   There is also no need for a Twins victory lap on the trade either, as Polanco was a valuable player for them.  I agreed with the trade at the time and still do, regardless of what Polanco does or doesn’t do with the Mariners.  

While Julien is not a defensive master, it has been apparent that he has improved greatly from the beginning of last season.  I think it is ridiculous for people to point to his error on Monday as the definitive proof that his defense sucks.  EVERY player makes errors.  To look at it this way takes SSS to the level of absurd.  A larger sample is always good and the largest sample possible is needed to judge defensive prowess.  

A larger sample is always better - but if we waited for a larger sample - we wouldn't have any articles in the beginning of the season ;)

[Sherry Cerny]

2 hours ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

So many things in here that are a huge stretch it was hard to read this about my favorite Twins and it made me feel very uncomfortable. It felt like a promotional article instead of a baseball article.

Maybe it was a promotional article. Maybe it was to help people find something good about this team with everything going on. But, it was about baseball, it was about a baseball player. Just because it wasn't stacked with numbers and stats, doesn't mean it's not a baseball article. It's an op piece stating why Julien is a good - or even better - replacement for Polanco. 

[Sherry Cerny]

2 hours ago, CRF said:

Not sure I agree with the "quite a haul" part for Polanco, but Julien is going to be a very solid player. His bat won't be a problem at all, and his defense is tremendously improved. It's obvious that he really works on that aspect. He needs to stay in the lineup against lefties too. I wish Rocco would figure that out. 

Yeah, that wasn't my original sentence. I don't  think we got a haul either. In my original I noted that we got those players, but that they haven't worked out quite yet, but that's not the focus of the article. I would LOVE to see him stay in against lefties!!! it's been fun watching him make contact and work

[Sherry Cerny]

2 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

Polanco and Julien can exist on the same roster!!!

If anyone doesn't believe that.

Enjoy your Carlos Santana. 

Okay Brian, we get it. lol. calm down. it's just an article. 

[Riverbrian]

4 minutes ago, Sherry Cerny said:

 

That’s okay! You can disagree. I see things totally different. I’m not worried about his speed considering he is one of two players who have actually stolen a base, when Buxton and Castro haven’t. There is also an argument for his last three games and I think it only gets better for him. 

I don't disagree. I'm a Julien Fan. 

I won't use small sample size volatile defensive metrics to support my position but I think he is doing well defensively so I don't have any issues with him wearing a glove on his hand. I think his bat is plus plus.

I'm happy that Rocco has been forced to give Julien AB's against southpaws so he can improve his game furthur more. 

What I strongly disagree with is the pretzel logic used to claim that trading Polanco was a good thing to secure a position for Julien. 

 

[Sherry Cerny]

2 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

I don't disagree. I'm a Julien Fan. 

I won't use small sample size volatile defensive metrics to support my position but I think he is doing well defensively so I don't have any issues with him wearing a glove on his hand. I think his bat is plus plus.

I'm happy that Rocco has been forced to give Julien AB's against southpaws so he can improve his game furthur more. 

What I strongly disagree with is the pretzel logic used to claim that trading Polanco was a good thing to secure a position for Julien. 

 

I never said trading polanco was the key to securing the position. it just worked out that way. period. 

[Linus]

I think I entered the Twilight Zone. Like the rest of the team Julien isn’t hitting and his fielding is still a work in progress. If he continues improving he might get to average. The Julien love is starting to get irrational. 

[Major League Ready]

Their mistake that is making a difference was not trading Polanco.  It was signing Santana.  They should have signed Hoskins.  His salary for 2023 is only $12M.  They would only be at $132M with Hoskins.  If that was a problem, they could have flipped DeSclafani immediately or just not taken him in the deal.  They could have traded or non-tendered Thielbar.  With Hoskins, they could send Kirilloff to the OF or use him as a DH.  This would be a better team than what they have or if they had kept Polanco.

[Riverbrian]

2 minutes ago, Sherry Cerny said:

I never said trading polanco was the key to securing the position. it just worked out that way. period. 

 

3 hours ago, Sherry Cerny said:

Trading Polanco to secure his spot on the team was a good decision by the front office.

 

[USAFChief]

17 minutes ago, Sherry Cerny said:

Yeah, that wasn't my original sentence. I don't  think we got a haul either. 

Huh?

This is literally the first 2 sentences of your article:

 

"The Twins ... traded second baseman Jorge Polanco to Seattle on Jan. 29. The team got quite a haul..."

[Riverbrian]

25 minutes ago, Sherry Cerny said:

Okay Brian, we get it. lol. calm down. it's just an article. 

I'm calm. I'm participating in the discussion. 

I understand what article's are. 😎

[Sherry Cerny]

17 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Huh?

This is literally the first 2 sentences of your article:

 

"The Twins ... traded second baseman Jorge Polanco to Seattle on Jan. 29. The team got quite a haul..."

 

It was edited :) 

[Sherry Cerny]

12 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

I'm calm. I'm participating in the discussion. 

I understand what article's are. 😎

lol okay. Some things are also changed by my editor. 

[Riverbrian]

39 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

Polanco's wRC+ 2023 was 118.  It's 89 this year   /  Julien's wRC+ 120 in 2023 was 136.  It's 120 this year.

So far this year, Polanco's OAA -1   /  Juliens OA 2

In what way is Polanco the better player?

First Off - Polanco wRC+ is 110

Things change fast in a small sample size. You gotta try and keep up if small sample size is your weapon of choice. 

2nd Off 

wRC+ - Here are some more numbers. Which ones do you want to ignore? Do you want to ask the question... In what way are any of these players below better than Polanco? 

Castro 36

Farmer: 18

Santana: 11

Kepler: -62

Crawford: 56

Garver: 46

Julio Rodriquez: 40

Nolan Jones: 47

Devers: 102

Arozarena: 63

Oneil Cruz: 74

Harper: 81

Castellanos: 26

Boegaerts: 69

Santander: 63 

Lindor: 48

Jose Ramirez: 98

Matt Chapman: 66

Carroll: 82

Swanson: 93

Bellinger: 54

Arenado: 93

Goldschmidt: 54

Vlad Jr.: 103

Bichette: 79

Bregman: 96

Third off:

You and I have had a lot of discussions on this. Show me where I said Polanco is better than Julien.

I've said Polanco wouldn't be a bench player!

I've said that Polanco and Julien can be on the same roster.

I've said that injuries are going to occur

I've said your paper lineup of a Julien/Farmer Platoon, Kirilloff/Santana Platoon, Lewis and Correa being better than Polanco won't last before April is done. 

I've said that Rocco doesn't let Julien hit left handers. 

I've said that Rocco lets Polanco hit both left handers and right handers. 

I've said that Santana will play every day. 

I've said that you put words in other peoples mouths. And you've done that again.