INF Edouard Julien, 18th round (539th overall) - Minnesota Twins - SIGNED - $493,000
With their 18th round (539th overall) pick, the Minnesota Twins have selected INF Edouard Julien.
Hometown: Quebec City, Que.
Bats/Throws: Switch/Right
Height/Weight: 6’ 1”, 186 lbs.
School: Auburn University
Coach: Butch Thompson.
Previous teams: Les Ailes du Québec, ABC, Canadian Junior National Team, Team Elite, Diamants de Québec, Quebec Gunners.
Previous Coaches: Jean-Philippe Roy, Robert Fatal, Greg Hamilton.
Previously drafted: 37th round (1,103rd overall) in 2017 by the Philadelphia Phillies and scout Alex Agostino (St-Bruno, Que.).
Twitter Handle: @edouardjulien7
Scouts: Jack Powell, Mark Quimuyog and Walt Burrow.s.
Scouting Report
Perfect Game
In a bit of a surprise move, Edouard Julien was declared eligible for the MLB draft this season as his year at a secondary school in Canada counted as his first year of post-high school baseball, which would make his sophomore campaign his third year. This makes Julien a top five round candidate for the draft, and though teams haven't had much time with him, he has the tools to be successful at the next level.
At 6-foot-2 and 195-pounds Julien has long limbs with some wiry present strength but lots of room on the frame to add another 15 or 20 pounds of strength. The offense is the main selling point of the profile, and, more specifically, the power that he gets to at a very good clip.
Julien has easy plus raw power and hits from the left side of the plate with a swing that's geared towards a powerful approach. The power plays well to all fields and the swing plane is almost directly uphill with impressive raw bat speed and the path itself being surprisingly compact given the approach. Julien is looking to drive balls into the air and it plays to both fields as he showed in the first game of the Ole Miss series, hitting a ball off the top of the left field wall in a prior at-bat before crushing a no-doubt home run deep to the right-center field gap on a night where the wind was blowing in.
The hands are explosive and he generates enough bat speed while keeping his hands close to his body at the start. He impacts the ball well out front with backspin and generates good leverage and torque through the lower half of his body. Defense will be a question mark moving forward as most scouts have questions about his ability to fit in at third base at the next level.
The approach is reminiscent of the three true outcomes as he's going to get his home runs while also striking out a lot and walking a lot. He has a fairly disciplined approach with good knowledge of the strike zone but will struggle with spin at times and takes big hacks, even in two-strike counts. Julien will also be very young for the draft and could be an upside pick with clear top five round talent
Baseball America
Auburn INF Edouard Julien is draft-eligible this year despite being a 19-year-old sophomore. His 2017 secondary school year in Canada counts as equivalent to a year in JuCo, giving him three years of college ball. It’s an unusual situation, but he is eligible to be selected this June. He’ll be a difficult one for teams to figure out because of his defensive profile questions (he’s currently playing third base, but teams believe he’ll move to second in pro ball), but could go early on Day 2 or later.
2019 season, as a sophomore with Auburn Tigers: Batting .239 in 60 games for the Tigers with 14 doubles, one triple, eight homers and 48 RBIs. Owns an .793 OPS ... Help Tigers to second consecutive NCAA Regional championship … Two hits with a double and two runs knocked in facing Alabama-Birmingham ... Three hits with two doubles, a triple and three RBIs in three-game set against Alabama ... Two hits with an RBI against Jacksonville State ...Had season-high with four RBIs in the series opener against Ole Miss knocking in six runs in the series … Hit his team-best eighth homer of the season in the seventh inning of the series opener ... Two doubles, two RBIs against Georgia Southern ... Two hits including a solo homer facing Georgia Southern ... Went 2-for-4 with two homers and three RBIs in a win against Alabama A&M ... Was 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs facing Central Florida ... Two hits against Cincinnati ... Went 3-for-4 in a win over UT Martin with a homer and two RBIs ... Doubled knocking in three against Texas at San Antonio ... Doubled facing Tennessee ... Two hits against Tennessee ... Doubled with two RBIs against Alabama-Birmingham ... Doubled in a run against Mississippi State ... Was 3-for-6 with a double and two runs knocked in against Mississippi State ... Doubled against South Carolina ... Doubled, singled annd had two hits, inncluding an RBI double in a three-game series facing Arkansas ... Homered, knocking in three against Jacksonville State ... Doubled facing Texas A&M ... Doubled in a run against Georgia Tech ... Two hits including a homer and four RBIs against Ole Miss.
2018 season, as a freshman with Auburn Tigers: Batted .275 with 17 home runs and 69 RBIs in 62 games, mostly at DH ... His 69 RBIs 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 … His best games included going 3-for-4 with two walks and three RBIs against Longwood … Hit first collegiate home run and drove in four runs vs. BYU … Went 2-for-4 with a double, home run and four more RBIs in game two of a doubleheader the following day … Went on a seven-game hitting streak and collected multiple hits in five contests … Homered in back-to-back games vs. Alabama and Missouri ... Was 3-for-3 with a walk, two doubles, a home run and three RBIs facing Alabama A&M … Was the only Auburn player to reach six times in a game and his five runs scored were the most since 2009 … Finished Alabama series 4-for-11 with five runs, two home runs and eight RBIs … Tagged a pair of three-run home runs at Florida … Went 2-for-4 with his second grand slam of the season facing Vanderbilt … Hit his sixth home run in a span of 11 games vs. South Alabama … Went 3-for-5 with two runs, a home run and four RBIs in the regular season finale against LSU … Named to the SEC All-Tournament Team collecting four hits with one home run and five RBIs, delivered walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th in tournament opening win vs. Kentucky and hit his third grand slam of the season against Ole Miss (May 23) … Was 1-for-3 and his record-breaking 69th RBI of the season in the super regional opener in Gainesville.
Honours:
2018 Honours: Won Canadian Baseball Network Player of the Year honours (43 of 52 first-place ballots, 82.7% ... Named to the Raleigh Regional All-Tournament Team going 7-for-13 with six runs, two home runs and six RBIs in the three games ... Plus SEC All-Tournament Team after collecting four hits with one home run and five RBIs ... Named to SEC All-Freshman Team ... Earned Second Team ABCA All-South Region Honors … Named Freshman All-American by Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, D1 Baseball, NCBWA and Perfect Game/Rawlings
2017 Honours: Perfect Game All American Canada/Puerto Rico Honourable Mention
2016 Honours: Earned all-tournament honours at WWBA 18U National Championship ... All-tournament team at 17U Mid-Atlantic regional in Bridgeton, NJ