Reusse: Corey Koskie’s legacy could be an inspiration for Edouard Julien’s disappointment

There will be two lefthanded-hitting infielders from Canada crossing paths near the Twins dugout on Sunday at Target Field.

That would be Corey Koskie, a third baseman from Manitoba, becoming the 27th player to be inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame with an on-field pregame ceremony. Also, Edouard Julien, mostly a second baseman from Quebec, and possibly in the lineup for that fourth game of the home series with first-place Detroit.

This Canadian comparison struck me in the series opener on Thursday night, when Julien had the best swing we’ve seen from him with the Twins since 2023, smashing a third-inning home run off lefthander Tarik Skubal.

It was the first home run by a lefthanded hitter off Skubal this season, and it was an absolute rocket to right field. Estimated distance: 410 feet. And there can be no estimate as to the burst of confidence that wondrous rip had to bring to Julien after a joyless 2024 season, and then the majority of this one spent with the St. Paul Saints.

Julien had another hit and also made a couple of respectable plays at first base — not his natural position (and, yes, there are many times when we’re not sure Eddie has one of those).

This was a different night, though. Julien contributed a play to end Detroit’s top of the 10th. And now he would be leading off the bottom of the inning with Alan Roden as the gift runner at second base with the potential winning run.

TV made it clear Julien arrived at the dugout with a bounce in his step. And a moment later, he was told that Mickey Gaspar would be pinch-hitting for him — which actually would be pinch-bunting for him.

You didn’t like the matchup with lefty reliever Tyler Holton, manager Baldelli?

Really, Rocco. Julien just got done hitting a rocket home run off Skubal, the best lefthander in the universe.

I’m not a Baldelli basher, but what are we doing here? Since 5 p.m. on July 31, when the trade deadline purge was complete, there should be one goal in the dugout, in the clubhouse, in the front office, and that’s player development.

Julien’s 26, the odds are against him, but he did have a .381 on-base percentage with some power as a rookie in 2023.

Can he get a hit here, win a game and make another small step toward being rescued as a big leaguer?

All of which sent me back to Koskie, who turned 26 halfway through his rookie season with the Twins in 1999. The Twins had been losing since 1993, but now they had reduced the payroll to owner Carl Pohlad’s loose change.

And here came Koskie. He had some power in that lefthanded bat, but the fielding part of third base was an issue. The Twins started him there 72 times in ‘99, also putting him in right field and as DH for starts.

How did the Twins fix Koskie … turn him into an excellent third baseman, the best all-around player they have had there behind Gary Gaetti?

“Nothing scientific; we hit him endless ground balls,” his first manager, Tom Kelly, said Friday. “Everybody knows the story of Gardy hitting him ground balls several days a week all winter.”

That would be Ron Gardenhire, first a coach, then Koskie’s manager from 2002 to 2004 with the Twins.

Fairly old-fashioned way to get better, right? Not rely on exotic charts to inform an infielder to take another half-step to the left. Just take 20,000 ground balls some winter and make every one of your starts in the field over the next five seasons at third base.

And how does this compare with Julien, the other Canadian lefthanded hitter, and perhaps running out of time with the Twins?

I don’t know, except Kelly, Gardenhire and Co. filled Koskie with hard work and belief 25 years ago and he’s going into the team Hall of Fame.