MINNEAPOLIS – Former Auburn slugger Edouard Julien has been called up to the Minnesota Twins, becoming the 58th big leaguer in program history, the organization announced Wednesday.
Julien becomes the seventh former Tiger to be called up to Major League Baseball since the beginning of the 2020 season, joining Casey Mize (Aug. 19, 2020), Ben Braymer (Aug. 28, 2020), Josh Palacios (Apr. 9, 2021), Keegan Thompson (May 2, 2021), Gabe Klobosits (July 30, 2021) and Davis Daniel (June 11, 2022).
A two-year starter for the Tigers from 2018-19, Julien totaled 27 home runs and 126 RBI in his time on the Plains, marking the most RBI of any player in the Southeastern Conference during the span.
The Quebec native burst onto the scene as a freshman in 2018, hitting .275 with 17 home runs and 69 RBI en route to earning Freshman All-American and ABCA All-Region honors. Julien's 69 RBI broke Frank Thomas' freshman program record that had stood since 1987 and were the most in the SEC as well as the most among freshmen nationally. His 17 home runs were tied for second among freshmen nationally and the most by an Auburn player since 2010.
After homering 10 more times with 55 RBI and leading Auburn to the 2019 College World Series as a sophomore, Julien was selected by the Twins in the 18th round of the 2019 MLB Draft.
Rated by MLB Pipeline as the Twins' No. 4 prospect and the No. 96 prospect in all of baseball, Julien is a .283 career minor league hitter with 48 doubles, 37 home runs and 142 RBI in 233 games at the start of his third professional season. His 215 walks since the start of the 2021 season are the most in minor league baseball, and he has reached base at a .437 clip during the span.
Julien, who is a two-time MiLB.com Organizational All-Star and member of the 2022 MLB Pipeline All-Prospect Second Team, earned a spot on the Twins' 40-man roster entering 2023 and went 8-for-23 (.348) with three home runs and six RBI in eight games at Spring Training. He was selected to represent Team Canada at the World Baseball Classic, where he went 7-for-13 with two doubles, two home runs, five walks, five runs and a stolen base.
Minnesota wraps up a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox at Target Field Wednesday at 12:10 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on MLB.TV.