Last year, Édouard Julien made his MLB debut. The Twins' prospect arrived a little without fanfare, but he had the firm intention of finding a place in the sun in the show.
And as a matter of fact, he seized his chance by demonstrating that he was worthy of the Majors. In 109 games, his .263/.381/.459 hitting line turned heads, as did his 16 long balls.
He definitely seemed like a guy who, at 24 years old, was ready to establish himself in the MLB for good. And in the end, seeing him in the top 10 of the best second basemen in the league was quite an achievement for a rookie player.
That said, in 2024, expectations will start to be a little higher. Julien has shown that he no longer has time to waste in the minor leagues, and the Twins will have to find playing time for him up.
The problem, that said, is that right now the Twins have congestion at shortstop. And with the young Brooks Lee who could add to Carlos Correa and Royce Lewis, that's starting to create quite a few infield players.
No, it's not just Toronto where this is a problem.
To play, therefore, Julien will have to demonstrate his versatility, and as Jon Morosi explains, we cannot rule out that the Quebecer finds himself on first cushion in 2024.
In fact, we should still expect to see Julien play second cushion and occupy the designated hitter chair, but the current reality of the Twins means that he risks getting more playing time if he is capable of helping out at first base.
He did it a little last year, in fact, and with the Twins who cannot do without his batting, we have to find solutions.
On the first cushion, Julien would risk sharing the workload with Carlos Santana. That said, the Twins have so much depth and versatility that it's hard to know who will play where.
For example, Brooks Lee will spend his spring between second base, third base and shortstop, where he may play a little more. The question is where Carlos Correa finds himself in this now.
What is clear, however, is that despite the congestion, the Twins will have to find solutions to put Julien in the lineup as often as possible.
It will go through the #4 position and the designated hitter role… but expect to see him in an even more versatile role. Maybe not to the point of considering him a utility player, but he could come close regardless.
- Yusei Kikuchi loves Toronto.
- A Spanish-language radio station in Vegas for the… Dodgers.
- Two deep players with the Cubs.
- The Diamondbacks must find a solution to stay in Phoenix.
