Edouard Julien (born April 30, 1999) is a Canadian professional baseball second baseman for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023. Julien played for the Canadian national team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Professional career

Julien attended Cardinal-Roy Secondary School in Quebec City, Canada. The Philadelphia Phillies selected Julien in the 37th round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft. He did not sign with the Phillies and enrolled at Auburn University to play college baseball for the Auburn Tigers. When he arrived at Auburn, he could not speak English.[1] In 2018, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod Baseball League, and returned to the league in 2019 with the Hyannis Harbor Hawks.[2][3] After his sophomore year, the Minnesota Twins selected Julien in the 18th round of the 2019 MLB Draft. Though he initially planned to return to Auburn for his junior year,[4] the Twins increased their signing bonus offer to $493,000 and he signed.[5]

Because of surgery and the COVID-19 pandemic, Julien didn't make his professional debut until 2021 with the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. During the season he was promoted to the Cedar Rapids Kernels.[6][7] He spent the 2022 season with the Wichita Wind Surge. He played in the 2022 Arizona Fall League, where he batted .365/.535/.683, and led the league in runs (21) and walks (20).[8] On November 15, 2022, the Twins added Julien to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.[9]

The Twins optioned Julien to the Triple-A St. Paul Saints to begin the 2023 season.[10] After starting the season batting 9-for-29 (.276), the Twins promoted him to the major leagues on April 12.[11] Julien got his first major league hit and first home run in the same inning against the New York Yankees on April 13.[12]

International career

Julien represents the Canadian national baseball team in international competition. In 2019, he played for Team Canada at the 2019 Pan American Games winning a silver medal.[13] During the games, he suffered an injury which required him to later on undergo Tommy John surgery.[14]

Julien was selected to the Canadian roster for the 2023 World Baseball Classic.[9] He finished as the tournament's statistical leader in slugging percentage (1.154) and OPS (1.821). Julien homered on the first pitch of his first plate appearance in the tournament off Great Britain's Akeel Morris. However, despite convincing victories over Great Britain and Colombia, Canada was eliminated in pool play.

Personal life

In August 2018, Julien was arrested in Auburn, Alabama, for public intoxication and criminal littering.[15] He was sentenced to perform community service.[16]

References

  1. ^ "Bonjour! Meet rising Twins prospect Edouard Julien". MLB.com.
  2. ^ "#43 Edouard Julien - Profile". pointstreak.com. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  3. ^ "Edouard Julien - Profile". pointstreak.com. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  4. ^ Alabama (June 24, 2019). "Two Auburn baseball players turn down pro deals, return to school". al.com. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  5. ^ Alabama (July 9, 2019). "Julien signs with Twins after getting huge 2nd offer". Al.com. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  6. ^ "Twins prospect Edouard Julien, a walk-drawing on-base machine, looks to get aggressive and 'go for it'".
  7. ^ "First pro season a walk in the park for Canadian prospect Julien". MLB.com.
  8. ^ "The Official Site of Major League Baseball". MLB.com.
  9. ^ a b Gleeman, Aaron. "On-base machine Edouard Julien could walk his way right into the Twins' plans". The Athletic.
  10. ^ "Twins' Edouard Julien: Sent down to Triple-A". cbssports.com. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
  11. ^ "Top 100 prospect Julien called up by Twins". MLB.com.
  12. ^ "Julien gets first MLB hit, HR -- both in 9-run first". MLB.com.
  13. ^ "Auburn's Edouard Julien named to Canadian National Team". July 2019.
  14. ^ "Edouard Julien has a little patience and a little pop".
  15. ^ Alabama (August 25, 2018). "Auburn baseball Freshman All-American Edouard Julien arrested for public intoxication". al.com. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  16. ^ Boutin, Richard (December 20, 2018). "Édouard Julien "exemplaire" après son arrestation". Le Journal de Québec (in French). Retrieved April 12, 2023.

External links