With Jorge Polanco starting the season on the injured list because of lingering knee soreness, is prospect Edouard Julien the best choice to start at second base for the Minnesota Twins?
Whether he is or isn’t doesn’t matter unless the Twins recall him from Triple-A St. Paul, which is where the team optioned him to on March 13. But the fact that he was in Minnesota’s spring training lineup Friday against the Yankees – and went 2-for-4 with a homer – there’s some clamoring on Twitter to have him begin the season with the big club.
As good as Julien has been, Minnesota has a lot of infield depth with Nick Gordon, Kyle Farmer and Donovan Solano all boasting experience and enough defensive versatility to qualify as suitable replacements while Polanco gears up for his debut.
Julien is Minnesota’s fourth-ranked prospect (per MLB Pipeline) and has been a hitting machine this spring and for Team Canada at the World Baseball Classic. On Friday, Julien slugged his third home in just 20 spring at-bats – the latest an opposite-field shot that cleared the left-field wall.
Edouard Julien – Minnesota Twins (3)* pic.twitter.com/qUuDnXGbtm
— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) March 24, 2023
According to Darren Wolfson, Julien played in the Twins’ Friday spring game because the team “wanted him to get a couple more games with [Major League] staff” after being away for the World Baseball Classic.
Julien dominated at the WBC, going 7-for-13 at the plate with two homers, two doubles, five walks, five runs and a stolen base. His 1.821 OPS was the highest of any batter in the WBC.
