Twins will call up top prospect Edouard Julien as Joey Gallo goes on injured list

Edouard Julien, one of the Twins' top prospects, will be called up from Class AAA St. Paul on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old infielder hit .300 at Class AA Wichita last season before tearing up the Arizona Fall League, hitting .400 with five home runs in 21 games. He batted .368 with three home runs in eight games in spring training for the Twins, and also played for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic.

Julien, a native of Quebec who played college baseball at Auburn, was in Indianapolis with the Saints on Tuesday.

The move won't be official until Wednesday, but was confirmed by a source. It was made necessary because Joey Gallo was placed on the injured list with a right intercostal strain. He tried swinging before Tuesday's game against the White Sox but hasn't made sufficient progress, and the Twins were getting shorthanded.

Gallo was off to an encouraging start, batting .278 with three home runs and seven RBI. Now he will miss the weekend series in New York, where he batted .159 over 82 games with the Yankees and was derided by fans before being traded to the Dodgers.

Carlos Correa was set for pregame work on Tuesday and could be in the lineup for Wednesday's series finale against the White Sox. The veteran shortstop missed his third game on Tuesday because of lower back soreness. He said that he felt sore after picking up his children recently. No one knows for sure if he was kidding.

"Again, we are trying to wipe it out, so we are not worried about it in the future," Baldelli said. "Again he's doing fine."

Max Kepler, on the IL with right patellar tendonitis, is making progress during his rehab. He's been able to hit and throw, with the only thing hindering him is when he decelerates to a stop.

But he's been improving in that area and believes he will be on the upcoming road trip to New York and Boston, which means he's close to being activated.

Alex Kirilloff, who has been dealing with the aftermath of right wrist surgery, began a minor league rehabilitation assignment at Class A Fort Myers. He's joining second baseman Jorge Polanco, who is working his way back from knee soreness.

The Cleveland Guardians are a shining example of the stolen base explosion that is sweeping baseball. The Twins' American League Central rival entered Tuesday with 19 stolen bases through their first 11 games.

For comparison, the Guardians total is already half of the Twins 38 stolen bases over the entire 2022 season. Seven teams are averaging at least a stolen base a game. The Rangers led baseball with 128 steals last season. Cleveland entered play on Tuesday on pace for 279 steals.

The new rules limiting pitchers throws to first can turn the pitch clock into a countdown clock for the baserunner.

This has added another layer to pregame scouting meetings because pitchers must focus on keeping games from turning into a track meet.

"Really, what you want to avoid is an overabundance of teams just going out there and running wildly early in the count and taking bags," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "Leadoff hitter gets on and immediately steals second. You want to find ways to avoid these situations, but there's going to be more stolen bases, especially with the more athletic teams."

This will be more important for the Twins in their quest to become kings of the AL Central. The Chicago White Sox entered Tuesday 13-for-13 in steal attempts. So two of the Twins' division opponents are off to the races.

"Some of these teams, they're in our division, so we're going to have to spend some extra time on that," Baldelli said. "Yeah, our guys do. Our pitchers have done a pretty decent job so far of holding the ball and finding ways to make it more difficult for these teams."