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With a strong performance during the World Baseball Classic, Edouard Julien put himself on the national map. He then started well for Triple-A St. Paul and forced his way up to the majors when the second base position became a cause for concern.
Having filled in for both Kyle Farmer and Donovan Solano, it was in early June that Julien really got going after taking over for Jorge Polanco. He has played in 33 games since that recall and owns a .356/.436/.594 slash line with nine doubles and five home runs. On the season, he has nine dingers, and his 154 OPS+ is beyond impressive. It’s all reflective of a plate approach that is disciplined but focused.
Leading the Twins with 1.0 fWAR, he’s also a candidate to take home American League Rookie of the Year honors.
Among 401 rookie hitters to make their debut this season, Minnesota’s Julien ranks 10th in fWAR. Among American League hitters, he trails only former Twins prospect Luke Raley, Josh Jung, Gunnar Henderson, and Masataka Yoshida. Each of them are within striking distance with games to play however, and Julien has positioned himself well despite the fact that he has played at least 30 less games than all of them.
For Julien to continue rising toward the top of the ranks, he’ll need to stick with this consistent level of hitting. Although he is not the same batting average stalwart that former second baseman Luis Arraez is, Julien’s game has much more to it. Even while not scratching a .400 average at any point this year, Julien’s OPS is well above that of Arraez.
The league will continue trying to adjust to Julien, but he has the benefit of a weaker schedule and an already sound process. By drawing walks and attacking hittable pitches, Julien has shown an impressive output of driving the baseball. He just reached 10 homers on the season, and should land beyond fifteen when the dust settles. Racking up 20 or more doubles seems likely, and the more Minnesota can get the offense rolling, the more Julien should be expected to be in the middle of it.
Minnesota’s last Rookie of the Year winner was Marty Cordova way back in 1995. The former 10th round pick put up an .839 OPS that year and launched a career-best 24 homers. He beat out Garret Anderson and Andy Pettitte to take home the honor, and his six voting points over Anderson made it an incredibly close race.
I don’t expect Julien to run away with the award, so him winning it could provide another opportunity for a close victory. He’ll need to track down Raley, Yoshida, and Jung first, but consistently pushing for more isn’t something that should come as a shock. Maybe Royce Lewis or Matt Wallner would have been considered the Twins favorites to factor in entering the season, but Julien has held his own and continued to overcome the pressure.
As we have seen, very little seems to phase Julien, and Rocco Baldelli will want that unwavering resolve in the batter’s box the rest of the way. If Julien can provide that, Minnesota will have a strong chance to do damage in the postseason, and he could be rewarded individually as well.
The Twins could use another Rookie of the Year award winner to get behind, and Julien’s staying power at this level looks to be something for the long haul.
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