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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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