Twins to promote top prospect as slugger heads to IL

Julien showed top-end patience at the plate. His 19.3% walk rate was more than double the MLB average. That willingness to work deep counts translated to a slightly higher-than-average 24.6% strikeout percentage, though it’s a tradeoff with which the Twins are surely comfortable given Julien’s huge on-base marks.

The Quebec native played for Canada during this spring’s World Baseball Classic. He was assigned to Triple-A St. Paul to open this season. Julien has picked up right where he left off, collecting eight hits and seven walks through his first 36 plate appearances. He’s homered twice and doubled over his first eight games at the top minor league level.

Over the winter, Julien generated some top prospect attention. ESPN and FanGraphs placed him near the back of their respective Top 100 lists, while he finished just outside the Top 100 at Baseball America. Prospect evaluators unsurprisingly praise his plate discipline and strong left-handed power potential. He’s widely expected to be a productive offensive player at the MLB level.

Julien’s defensive profile is more spotty. He’s split his time between second base, left field and first base in the minors. Evaluators have offered bearish reviews on his glove at the keystone, suggesting he’s better suited for left field or first base long-term. With Gallo’s injury vacating first base, it seems likely Julien will break in primarily there.

The Twins added Julien to their 40-man roster last offseason to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. They won’t need to make any additional moves to call him up. The 23-year-old still has three minor league option years remaining, so the Twins can shuttle him between the majors and St. Paul as needed.

While Julien didn’t break camp with the MLB club, he still has the potential to secure a full-service year in 2023. Players need to accrue 172 days on the big league roster to reach one year. Julien would narrowly meet that cutoff if he’s in the majors for good, though any optional assignment back to the minors would keep him shy of a full season. The Twins aren’t in a position to recoup any draft compensation for his promotion, as he only appeared on the preseason Top 100 list at one of ESPN, Baseball America and MLB Pipeline.