On July 3, Edouard Julien was sitting on a couch in the clubhouse when someone yelled his name. “Eddie, you’re leading off!” one of his coaches bellowed. It was the bottom of the 8th inning, and the Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals were tied 3-3. Julien knew the Twins might want him to pinch-hit, but he didn’t expect to lead off the inning. He thought he would hit in the 4-hole if someone got on base.
Julien scrambled and couldn’t find his elbow guard. He knew Kansas City reliever Taylor Clarke had a hard slider, but Julien couldn’t remember what else Clarke threw. “I just picked a random elbow guard, put it on, and had no idea what the pitcher had,” he said. “I just swung.” Clarke threw him a 95 mph sinker, and Julien pulled it over the right-field fence to make it 4-3.
The Twins won 8-4.
Julien’s ability to unlock Minnesota’s dormant offense on Monday was reminiscent of one of its most popular players in the late-2000s. Denard Span didn’t sell jerseys because he had prodigious power. He didn’t have Byron Buxton’s speed in center field or Luis Arraez’s slash line. He hit .284/.357/.389 in five years with the Twins and .292/.345/.404 in three years with the Washington Nationals after they traded him to DC.
Span’s best attribute? He saw pitches as the leadoff hitter, and everyone else benefitted. He enabled Minnesota’s high-powered offense in the late aughts to win six AL Central titles in ten years. Span was the key that unlocked Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, and the rest of the lineup.
Julien isn’t Span. He has more power and isn’t as good defensively. Julien is also a 24-year-old prospect; we don’t know what he’ll become yet. But he enters the big leagues as advertised. Julien has good pitch recognition, mastery of the strike zone, and power to both fields. His shortcoming? He occasionally gets too picky at the plate. Julien’s coaches would like to see him ambush pitchers more often. They want to see him get a little more aggressive to avoid “the rot” – pitcher’s counts and the like. Regardless, Julien sees pitches, which should positively affect the rest of the lineup.
His at-bat against Clarke is a good example. Julien knew Clarke could use his slider as a weapon late in counts, so he tried to find a pitch he could hit early on.
I knew he had a good slider, and he liked going to the hard, sharp slider. I just didn’t want to get to two strikes. I was aggressive. He threw me a first-pitch fastball. I’m pretty sure it was middle-down. You don’t see me pull the ball in the air that often, so it was good to do that.
That’s what has been different in the past couple of games, leading with Carlos [Correa], too. He just puts together a good two-strike at-bat and goes the other way. Maybe it fuels the other guys to do the same. There are so many good at-bats all throughout the game. We just take our hits the opposite way, and I think that’s the biggest difference. That makes the offspeed a little less sharp, and we don’t chase as much.
Imagine if someone had told you in Spring Training that the Twins would have one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, but their lineup would scuffle along. You’d have stuck them in a raft and pushed them down the Caloosahatchee River. No need for that kind of nonsense in February.
But here we are in July, and Minnesota’s highly-talented, expensive lineup needs a little boost. Sometimes a power hitter can put a charge into his teammates. Occasionally, young players will show out and provide a little energy. Ultimately, the Twins need Buxton and Carlos Correa to get going. However, Julien’s patient approach can unlock something in his teammates. He just needs to channel his inner Midwesterner. He’s gotta get passive-aggressive. Or find the balance between the two, at least.
Julien’s gears occasionally jam when he’s at the plate. Julien has had over 2000 plate appearances in his professional career, including nearly 150 in the majors. He quickly recognizes pitches and knows the strike zone. But he’s naturally patient and occasionally lets a hittable pitch pass by him. It frustrates his coaches, especially assistant hitting coach Derek Shoman, who he’s worked with since Low-A.
Nobody wants to see Julien offer at pitches outside the zone, and the Twins like that he’s one of the league leaders in full counts. But he overthinks things sometimes, paralyzing him in the split second he has to offer at a pitch. The best pitch Julien will see in the at-bat leaves his field of vision, limiting his opportunity to drive offense. The best thing about his at-bat on Monday? He didn’t think. Julien relied on his instincts and homered. He just went up and raked.
