Twins infielder Edouard Julien knows if he hits, the rest takes care of itself

LAKELAND, FLA. – When the Twins break camp and start the regular season in a month, there is a wide range of potential outcomes for Edouard Julien.

He could be the starting second baseman against righthanded pitching. He could be a bench bat, who picks up some playing time at first base. He could start the season at Class AAA.

Julien, 25, is less focused on how he factors into positional battles. If he hits like he did two years ago, he says, the Twins will find playing time for him.

“The time off was just good for me,” Julien said. “I’m here and I’m hungry. Not being satisfied like last year. I walked in and I knew I had a spot. This year, it’s go ahead and take it, right? Prove you have a place here. That’s all I have to do.”

After helping the Twins to a divisional title in 2023, primarily as the leadoff batter, Julien had a disastrous sophomore season. He batted .199 with a .612 OPS in 94 games. He struck out in 102 of his 301 plate appearances.

“I had so much [stuff] to do and work on,” Julien said. “With the season I had last year, offensively, it was so bad. You look at yourself in the mirror, like, ‘What the? What was going on?’”

New Twins hitting coach Matt Borgschulte traveled to Quebec to visit Julien during the winter. They hit together inside a bubble dome that covered a baseball field.

An important fix, Julien said, is making sure he covers more of the plate with the length of his swing. He knows he had trouble against off-speed pitches last year. Now, he’s confident if he is fooled, he is more prepared to make contact with pitches.

“I just know I have to hit,” Julien said. “I have to get back to what I was. If I hit, I think good things are going to happen. If you hit, they’re going to find a spot for you. There are always people trying to get your job. It don’t matter to me.”

Julien played first base during Wednesday’s spring training game, a position where he has two career starts in the majors. Twins Manager Rocco Baldelli expects Julien to split his playing time in Grapefruit League games almost equally between first and second.

“If you’re going to put a guy in a game, and he’s going to be in consideration to actually play, start and get at-bats as a first baseman, he better well play some first base in these spring training games,” Baldelli said. “We have to get his feet wet. We have to get him over there and get him comfortable with the finer points of playing the position. You only do that by playing.”

Six Twins pitchers combined to hold the Detroit Tigers to two hits during their 4-0 spring training win Wednesday at Joker Marchant Stadium while DaShawn Keirsey Jr., Allan Cerda and Rubel Cespedes each hit home runs.

Andrew Morris, one of the Twins’ best pitching prospects, tossed two innings with a strikeout and a walk in his first-ever Grapefruit League outing. Adding to his excitement was matching up against Tigers starter Tarik Skubal, the reigning American League Cy Young winner.

“Pretty sweet,” Morris said. “I was just kind of embracing it and not trying to push it away. Just let it be. Be excited and grateful for where I’m at right now.”

Cory Lewis, another pitching prospect, threw 13 knuckleballs among his 34 pitches, a pitch that sits around 84 mph, and he uses a typical breaking ball. It drew five whiffs, including an off-balance swinging strikeout against Gleyber Torres.

“Watching the jaws drop, the umpires having to deal with the knuckleballs, and [catcher Jair] Camargo catching one with his leg … he threw the ball well,” Baldelli said.

Brock Stewart, who underwent shoulder surgery last August, said he is expected to begin pitching in spring training games next week. It keeps him on track to start the season on time.

“It has been hard to fine-tune pitches because there have always been a finite amount of pitches that I’m supposed to throw when it comes to the rehab staff and what they prescribed for me,” Stewart said. “Mostly, it’s been getting back into pitching shape. Thankfully, the pitch shapes and everything have been pretty good so far. Hopefully, that sticks around.”