Edouard Julien arrived on Wednesday to take a place in a Twins lineup for the first time. He did so with the full endorsement of Bob Elliott, Canada's baseball version of Don Cherry, although without the maniacal remarks and cartoonish sport coats.
Edouard Julien takes his place among promising Canadians to play for Twins
The infielder, called up to fill in for the injured Joey Gallo, was Canada's No. 1 hitter in the minor leagues last year and follows in a Twins line that includes Corey Koskie and Justin Morneau.
April 13, 2023 at 1:13AM
Elliott was a longtime newspaper reporter, including first covering the Expos for the Ottawa Citizen and then the Blue Jays and all baseball matters for the Toronto Sun.
He has plaques in both the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and the National Baseball Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Elliott is also the founder of the Canadian Baseball Network, and among the honors presented by the website is an award to Canada's No. 1 hitter in minor league baseball.
The winner for 2022: Julien, from Québec City, after batting .300 and getting on base at .441 for the Twins' Class AA affiliate Wichita.
He then tore up the Arizona Fall League and played for Canada in the World Baseball Classic in March.
"Freddie Freeman said the two best young hitters on his Canadian team were Julien and Bo Naylor, the first-round catcher for Cleveland,'' Elliott said Wednesday. "And Freddie should know.''
This early Twins opportunity came with Joey Gallo missing more time than expected with a muscle strain and going on the injured list. Julien was recalled as the best available lefthanded hitter in St. Paul.
When Wednesday's game started, it looked as though Julien's time might last for the road trip to New York (Yankees) and Boston.
When the Twins' 3-1 victory ended, there was a possibility Julien might be here for a few weeks. That's because infielder Kyle Farmer was hit in the face with a Lucas Giolito pitch in the fourth inning.
Farmer had teeth knocked out of alignment, a large laceration and, later Wednesday, surgery. The valuable infielder will be missing for some time.
Julien was wearing No. 67 with the Saints. Rod McCormick, the Twins' longtime equipment manager, had a better idea. He gave him No. 47, the number of Corey Koskie, runner-up to Justin Morneau as the greatest Twin among a dozen prior Canadian players.
Before the game, Julien was asked if there was significance for 47 to him and said:
"I don't think so. I think there was an old baseball player … I can't remember his name. I'm really sorry. He's an old Canadian.''
An hour later, there was a call placed to Koskie and he said: "You're too late. I've already been told that. He's right. I am an old Canadian ballplayer.
"Tell me about this kid.''
Response: "Second base, or maybe first base. Kind of like you as a rookie in 1999. Good lefthanded hitter; improvement needed in the field.''
Koskie did not laugh. He asked instead about the epidemic of injuries that keeps hitting big league baseball — especially his original club, the Twins.
Perhaps Julien will have a coach hit him hundreds of baseballs on a regular basis in the winter, as Ron Gardenhire did for Koskie, to help turn him into an exceptional infielder (third base).
For now: "Julien's defense at second base needs to keep getting better,'' Twins baseball boss Derek Falvey said. "But he's a worker, and the quality of Eddie's at-bats … that's what always has impressed us.''
The Twins were so impressed that they weren't scared off in the 2019 draft. Julien was the rare case when he was draft eligible after a sophomore season (at Auburn).
"Eddie told teams he was going back to Auburn if he didn't get a $500,000 bonus,'' Falvey said. "That's how he lasted until we took him in the 18th round.
"We saved some money with the higher picks. The best we could do under the rules was $493,000.''
Julien took that in July. A month later, he was playing in the Pan Am Games in Lima, Peru, and an elbow injury caused him to undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the 2020 season.
When he started playing, he started hitting. And now, with the Bob Elliott Stamp of Approval, he figures to be in the lineup (0-for-2 with a walk Wednesday) frequently as the Twins go through the injury crucible early in 2023.
"I hit a double in Indianapolis [Tuesday night] for the Saints and our manager, Toby Gardenhire, gathered the players around in the dugout and asked what I'd seen in the pitcher," Julien said. "I said what I saw and then Toby said, 'You're missing something. You're going to the big leagues.' "
Talk of competing for the best players or of a potential new owner wielding big bucks doesn’t change this: They are last in popularity among the four major men’s pro sports.
