Edouard Julien and the Very Hard Game

[Nick Nelson]

Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

Nothing about Edouard Julien’s background screams “big-leaguer.” He grew up in Quebec, far from the traditional pipelines of American baseball. He arrived at Auburn University as a teenager who barely spoke English. He wasn’t a showcase star or a bonus baby. When the Twins drafted him in the 18th round in 2019, he was a curiosity at best — a flier on a guy with an odd profile and a disciplined eye.

But that’s what made Julien different. He didn’t beat opponents with speed, power, or dazzling defense. He beat them with his brain — one of the most discerning approaches at the plate in professional baseball. He outwaited pitchers. He turned chaos into clarity. And it worked. He raked at every level of the minors. He became a surprise standout on Canada’s WBC squad. And in 2023, he debuted with the Twins and immediately made an impact, slashing .263/.381/.459 with the lowest chase rate of anyone in baseball.

Julien didn’t look like a star, but for a while, he was one. That’s the kind of magic baseball allows, at least for a time. But this game inevitably seems to catch up.

By the start of 2024, pitchers had a plan. They stopped challenging him in the zone. They exploited his passivity, knowing he’d rather walk than swing at a borderline pitch. They pounded him inside and spammed offspeed pitches. And it worked. His numbers cratered. The book was out.

Meanwhile, the margins started to show. Julien’s instincts — so crucial in a game built on split-second decisions — have too often betrayed him. On the bases. In the field. In moments where anticipation and awareness matter more than mechanics. His defense at second base became an unacceptable liability. His mistakes multiplied. What had once been overlooked became impossible to ignore.

On Monday, the Twins made the call: Julien was optioned back to Triple-A. It was not shocking, but it was still jarring. Because Edouard Julien is not a failure. He is a reminder. Of how impossible this game can feel. Of how much intelligence, perseverance, and resilience it takes to make it to the highest level — and how even that might not be enough to stay.

Julien climbed a mountain most of us can’t even see. And the higher you go in this sport, the more ruthless the air becomes. We shouldn’t forget what he accomplished. Few reach the majors at all. Fewer still thrive, however briefly. Julien defied the odds, and maybe he will again. But right now, at age 26, it feels like the game has caught up.

Baseball always does.

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[dxpavelka]

If there is on guy in this entire organization should should be told "you are now only a DH. Pick up a bat and do nothing else,"  this is the guy.  The hit tools are there.  Somewhere.  Will he ever be Nelson Cruz or Edgar Martinez?  No.  But can he become a 400-500 PA a year hitter if freed from the shackles of trying to figure out whether he's going to spend his career making throws from second base or catching throws from second base?  Maybe.  But the way I see it, that's his only shot.  And it's not like we've got a Nelson Cruz or Edgar Martinez standing in his way.  Give it a shot.

[MinnesotaTwins26]

Like you said, he only is 26 and in his third MLB season. He has time to adjust and get comfortable in the league. 

[Bodie]

A "star" being a .260 hitter???  With no other discernable baseball skills.. 

Welcome to to 2020s Twins!!!

[tarheeltwinsfan]

A brilliant sour and sweet article, Nick. 

[Old Crow]

He'll do well once the electronic strike zone kicks in.

[amjgt]

I personally believe that his defense HAS improved greatly at 2B. He's now almost making plays that he wouldn't have been close to making in 2023. 

There's a curse in that though. Almost making a play usually looks worse than not even getting close. 

Ultimately he needs to hit though. And he's not. The "Eddie quirks" are easy to laugh at when he's hitting .300 with a .400 OBP, but the quirks just add to the pile of annoyances when he's hitting .200 with a .600 OPS

[Patzky]

4 minutes ago, Old Crow said:

He'll do well once the electronic strike zone kicks in.

He knows more about the strike zone than CB Bucknor ever imagined. 

Problem is, CB has the last word.

[amjgt]

9 minutes ago, Bodie said:

A "star" being a .260 hitter???  With no other discernable baseball skills.. 

Welcome to to 2020s Twins!!!

It's amazing how that 260 average managed to get him an OPS+ of 130, as a rookie, with no other discernable baseball skills. 

[amjgt]

6 minutes ago, Old Crow said:

He'll do well once the electronic strike zone kicks in.

That feels like more of a last-year problem. 

I don't feel like Eddie getting screwed by a large zone has really been the problem this year.

[arby58]

20 minutes ago, Bodie said:

A "star" being a .260 hitter???  With no other discernable baseball skills.. 

Welcome to to 2020s Twins!!!

Welcome to the 2020s baseball, not just the Twins. Batting average isn't all that telling. Julien's .263 BA is far less important than his .381 OBP, .839 OPS (helped by his 16 HRs in 408 PAs) and 130 OPS+. Those are far more telling stats about a strong 2023 for Julien.

[stringer bell]

Tickets to the minors are usually not one way, but it does feel like the Twins are close to moving on with Julien. He needs to improve at all facets of the game, including base running and fielding. This year and last year make 2023 seem like a long time ago. 

[MinnInPa]

the guy just cant pull the trigger on pitches right down the heart of the plate...soooo  many called strike 3's

[Trov]

27 minutes ago, amjgt said:

That feels like more of a last-year problem. 

I don't feel like Eddie getting screwed by a large zone has really been the problem this year.

I have not watched much this year.  I would say for sure last year it would get frustrating to see him take a pitch well out of the zone that gets called a strike.  I did see an at bat the other day were a pitch way out of zone is called a strike on him.  It was not a strike 3, but it makes the hitter think well now I need to try to hit something I cannot hit or I will get rung up. 

[Doctor Gast]

Great job Nick. Julien is a very likable guy, I wish the best for him. Some may think otherwise, because I've been critical of his placement at 2B, that sprint speed isn't the same as range, his instincts & ball-handling IMO are lacking to be a good 2Bman. Twins figured they could hide him & failed to pivot from that idea after the shift ban. I advocated for switching him to 1B since MiLB. Twins thought that if his bat played there, his glove wouldn't matter. Now his bat doesn't play there, then now what?

"He beat them with his brain" - I think you got the wrong part of anatomy. Eye IMO, is better, because you don't have time to think. He has a great eye. Laying off difficult pitches in the zone has been his Kryptonite, that the league has capitalized on. He now needs to recalculate those pitches & try to foul them off. Like you said MLB isn't easy. 

Julien's trade value has taken a big hit, so my hope is that he finally learns 1B & adjust his hitting as I advocated in the beginning of the year. INF defense, especially on the right side, is a liability. IMO, Twins' failure to address it at the beginning of the season, is one reason we aren't doing so well.

 

 

[tony&rodney]

Excellent article Nick. Baseball is a hard game and the little nuances can sink just about most players. I wonder if a change of scenery could make things better for Julien in a mental approach sense. 

Also wondered if Lewis can adapt as he returns from injury, although they are totally different people and athletes.

[twinstalker]

1 hour ago, MinnesotaTwins26 said:

Like you said, he only is 26 and in his third MLB season. He has time to adjust and get comfortable in the league. 

LOL.  Yeah, he has time to figure something out over the next several years.  It's not a Twins thing, though.  It always amuses me when people don't want to move on from players who clearly don't get it and excuse them based on age, as if they're going to figure it out.  Basically you are who you are.  Andrew Wiggins was who he was, and it was obvious in his second year he wasn't going to get better for the Wolves.  The things that were missing were not a part of his mindset or character.  Yet "he's young" was the constant refrain.  No, he was just talented and bad at basketball, a combo that will only tease.

Likewise, Julien has issues.  He can get better, but he probably can't put up his minor league numbers because he sort of "cheated" to get those.  Minor league pitchers as a whole have issues that can be exploited by someone sharp enough to know how.  Julien is one of those.  It's on the Twins to recognize this along the way and not advance him until he does things the way he'll need to do them to succeed in the majors.  Perhaps this is unsuccessful.  It certainly would have taken longer for him to reach the show, if he ever would have.

When everybody was excited about Julien in spring training 2023, I warned his "success" there was a result of it being spring training, that his minors K rate indicated he was not ready for MLB.  I think Julien is the actual start of my rants and consistent messaging on what makes a prospect and what doesn't.  Don't get me wrong, I had hope, too, when he was in the low/mid minors.  I took him on my fantasy keeper teams.  I thought it was possible my ST take was wrong when he looked good initially on getting the call in 2023.  When it looked like I was right all along, I hoped he could limit his passivity, something I've seen more of this season than the season plus prior.  So far what we've seen is that he can do that if he really concentrates on doing that, but he's not a good hitter when he does, because that's not been a part of his DNA.

So, yeah, he can improve, but would you take a average minor leaguer and give him all the chances in the world and cross your fingers and use a 40 spot on him?.  No, you wouldn't.  That would be foolish.  Julien was that meh minor leaguer who, with the Twins permission (apparently), gamed the system and put up great slash lines with bad peripherals.  And because our information was limited, we were intrigued.

Finally, this absolutely has to be a warning about Emmanuel Rodriguez.  Starting pretty early last year I shouted to the heavens that no way in the world was EmRod near the prospect that Luke Keaschall was.  That doesn't mean he'll be a bust, but that's a real possibility.  It's also in comparison to Keaschall, who's a phenomenal prospect with somewhat limited upside and maybe higher injury risk.

(edit: "maybe higher injury risk" is not relative to EmRod but to the average player.  No one is higher injury risk than EmRod, apparently!)

[Linus]

Juliens babip in 2023 was 373. Whatever Julien is going to be it ain’t gonna look like 2023. He was a flawed prospect and unfortunately for him and us the flaws are showing up. 

[Vanimal46]

55 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Tickets to the minors are usually not one way, but it does feel like the Twins are close to moving on with Julien. He needs to improve at all facets of the game, including base running and fielding. This year and last year make 2023 seem like a long time ago. 

Barring another injury in the major league infield, it appears Julien is going to be in AAA for a while. The reality is he’s 4th on the depth chart for 2B starts now. Lee, Castro, and Keaschall once he returns are all higher on the priority list for playing time over Julien. 

By July, we will probably be talking about Julien as an additional piece to a trade. 

[amjgt]

8 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

Barring another injury in the major league infield, it appears Julien is going to be in AAA for a while. The reality is he’s 4th on the depth chart for 2B starts now. Lee, Castro, and Keaschall once he returns are all higher on the priority list for playing time over Julien. 

By July, we will probably be talking about Julien as an additional piece to a trade. 

Said another way.... See you next week Eddie!

[Nashvilletwin]

Please, please just do Julien a solid and trade him so he can get the fresh start he needs and deserves. He’s only 26 and Rooker 2.0 is not out of the question for him if he’s with a different organization. If his agent is worth a lick, he’s hounding Falvey daily to make that happen.

While Falvey is at it, trade Martin and Miranda too.  They deserve fresh starts after their Twins development debacles.

Btw, I saw an interview with Kevin O’Connell this week. He says that the players the Vikings drafted are all talented and capable of being accomplished NFL players and it’s up to him and his coaching staff to make that happen. If that doesn’t happen, it’s on him and his staff. He acknowledges that player development and the successful transformation from college football to a productive NFL career is the responsibility of him and his staff. If they are successful at doing that, then the chances for team success rise exponentially.

We’ve never, ever heard Rocco say anything like this.

KOC has his heart into player development because he cares and he’s smart/commercial.  Young football players are dying to be a Minnesota Viking under KOC because they know they have a commitment from the coaching staff to be developed into their best football selves.  The record is there to back up that up. That dynamic and record is nonexistent for the Twins under Rocco.

 

[rdehring]

All of last year, Julien was the most frustrating Twins player for me to watch.  Don't know how many times I watched him work the count to full or 2-2 and then watch strike three.  Yes, some of those were bad calls by the ump, but he still struck out.  I can't count the times I was screaming at my tv, "swing the f.........ng bat.

By contrast Luis Arraez would work the count to two strikes and then foul off any number of pitches until he finally put one in play.  Have been saying for going on two years that Julien needs to find a little of what Arraez had when hitting with two strikes.  If he could only learn that.  Problem is he doesn't seem to make any progress towards changing his approach.

As for his defense, thought it was less bad last year.  A couple games this year make me wonder.  Add that he seems to have a couple huge blunders on the bases every month or two, and you have a player that doesn't help a team trying to win.

Should he be moved to first base as some above suggest?  Probably.  Can you live with two or three baserunning mistakes a season?  Yes, if he is hitting.  But unless he becomes more of a Arraez type of hitter with two strikes, doubtful we will see this young man back at Target Field.

 

[bean5302]

1 hour ago, Bodie said:

A "star" being a .260 hitter???  With no other discernable baseball skills.. 

Welcome to to 2020s Twins!!!

A star as in, he produced more value in a season than any other position player in a Twins uniform having been drafted/developed under Falvey's regime.

Julien led all Falvey drafted players in fWAR in 2023 at 2.8. It's more of an indictment on Falvey than star power for Julien, but in a full season at that pace, Julien would have been at the edge of All Star production.

[Blyleven2011]

baseball is the hardest sport to play , round ball and round bat , physically and mentally goes into the equation as well ...

Julian gave us some hope with his hitting in 2023 , but his fielding was terrible but did get alittle better in 2023 , 2024 was a disaster with the bat and glove , 2025 hasn't been much better as he continues to be mentally messed up at fielding , running bases and even pitch selection ...

I get the impression his game could be so mental that he believes he doesn't belong in the major leagues  , he does seem lost mentally in playing the game ...

few reach the majors and fewer thrive in the sport  ...

I can't resist  , few GM's reach the majors and fewer thrive at their positions  , baseball is a difficult sport ...

[Rod Carews Birthday]

The questions for Eddie Julien continue. . . 

1.  Can his swing be fixed in the minors at all?  Maybe?  Or it might take MLB pitching to make the appropriate adjustments.

2.  If so, will he get another shot in the majors?  Maybe?  Or perhaps too many prospects have passed him by.

3.  Will he find himself as a throw-in on a trade at the deadline?  This seems like a real possibility, and I fear one that the Twins might regret if he really lights it up somewhere.  He’s no Big Papi, but he could still be plenty valuable in the right situation.  

4.  Could he be a DH only kind of guy if he could refine his power stroke?  I honestly think this might be the answer.  He is in the top 1% of guys with a batting eye and that’s a really good place to start (resume) from.  OR he may never really put it together. 

5.  Is this the end of his time with the Twins?  I also honestly think this is also the answer.  The hit tool is enticing, but he may never actually put it together.  

The list goes on and I’m sure it probably drives him crazy.  He seems like a fun, quirky fellow that’s easy to root for.  The team (and the league) needs more interesting guys like him.  I wish him the best and hope to see him soon again!

[Road trip]

So at first glance it appears the Twins are giving up on Julien (age 26) so they can keep journeymen infielders Bride (age 29) and Clemens (age 29).  Yup, that's standard operating procedure for a FO that values veteran mediocrity for their position players.  For all his many flaws, Julien has accumulated far more career WAR than either Clemens or Bride.

 

[LambchoP]

Even if you think his defense has improved (I don't) and you think his bat might eventually come around (I don't) he just doesn't look lig a big league player out there. Way too many errors, unforgivable mental mistakes, can't make the basic plays. He just seems to have no awareness or baseball IQ. He also always looks like he's halfway asleep out there. I think the Twins should move on. Maybe give him some time at ST Paul to see if he can put up some good numbers, then try to package him in a trade. It's pretty obvious Keaschal has surpassed him on the 2nd base depth chart already.

[awmonahan]

I love Eddie and his first stretch was really exciting to see. As much as I hate to say it, I think he needs a change of scenery trade. If the FO can find a comparable guy they think they can fix, Eddie could get a shot with a new organization and staff. I think he needs it. 

[Nashvilletwin]

32 minutes ago, Road trip said:

So at first glance it appears the Twins are giving up on Julien (age 26) so they can keep journeymen infielders Bride (age 29) and Clemens (age 29).  Yup, that's standard operating procedure for a FO that values veteran mediocrity for their position players.  For all his many flaws, Julien has accumulated far more career WAR than either Clemens or Bride.

 

Exactly!   

[CRF]

Yeah, baseball is a hard game. What's also hard...is to watch Eddie botch makeable plays at 2nd, or make poor throws, or stand at the plate like a statue and take called strikes. He showed some early promise as a hitter, but that seems to have disappeared. Without that aspect, he shouldn't be up here.