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Entering the 2025 MLB regular season, former top Minnesota Twins prospect Edouard Julien was at a career crossroads. Making his major-league debut in early 2023, Julien instantly became (at least for a short while) one of the premier take-and-rake bats in baseball, hitting .263/.381/.459 with 16 home runs, 16 doubles, a 31.4% strikeout rate, and a 134 wRC+ over 408 plate appearances. The then-24-year-old rookie also played a pivotal role in guiding Minnesota to its first playoff win in 19 years and advancing to the ALDS, seemingly solidifying himself as a long-term core contributor to the Twins offense.
Unfortunately, it's all been downhill since. Julien has batted .208/.299/.324, with 11 home runs, a 32% strikeout rate, and a 79 wRC+ over a combined 509 plate appearances across the last two seasons. With a near-identical strikeout rate and some vestigial capacity to drive the ball, Julien's approach and overall skill set haven't entirely disintegrated since his breakout rookie campaign. Yet, pitchers have been able to exploit his weaknesses more efficiently, throwing him a significant number of breaking and offspeed pitches that possess a movement profile antithetical to his swing path, making him unsteady at the plate and unable to feast on fastballs like he once did.
Julien has been lost at the plate since early 2024. Unable to make meaningful strides toward combating opposing pitchers' adjustments, the one-time fan favorite's long-term prospects in Minnesota have been plunged into doubt, making him a non-tender candidate this offseason. Given Julien's struggles, an opportunity has arisen in Minnesota's infield, particularly at second and first base. Interestingly, a 2025 acquisition has capitalized on that opportunity, filling the role Twins Territory once hoped Julien would.
Acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies in late April, Kody Clemens quickly cemented himself as an integral member of Minnesota's offense, hitting .304/.391/.696 with five home runs and an Aaron Judge-esque 195 wRC+ over his first 65 plate appearances with the club. Unfortunately, the 29-year-old's performance has significantly cooled since early June. Entering Sunday, he was hitting .202/.265/.397 with a well-below-league-average 80 wRC+ over his last 310 plate appearances.
Still, for the season, Clemens generated an acceptable 97 wRC+, while hitting an impressive (albeit unexpected) 19 home runs, 14 more than his previous career-best. Being one of the lone sources of steady power in Minnesota's lineup, Roger's son has also provided defensive flexibility, appearing at first base, second base, left field, right field, and center field. Despite playing meaningful innings in the corner outfield, Clemens has primarily played on the right side of the infield, netting 388 innings at first base and 307 1/3 at second.
Now, Julien was never going to factor into the corner outfield mix, meaning Clemens could have scratched out a utility role on Minnesota's roster regardless of Julien's performance. Yet, Clemens's ascension as a power-hitting left-handed bat who primarily plays second and first base has led to the former Phillie capitalizing on Julien's struggles, usurping the role from the once-promising rookie.
Clemens will enter the offseason as the club's de facto primary first baseman. He's likely to be usurped, but he has plenty of ways to fit into the roster beyond that position. As noted earlier, Julien could no longer be with the organization by next Opening Day. Expectations weren't high for Julien entering the 2025 regular season. There was still an opportunity for him to revive his career in Minnesota this season, returning to being a cost-controlled core member of the club's long-term success. Instead, he (like many Twins position players) squandered his opportunity, potentially signaling a premature end to his once-promising major-league career.
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