OTTAWA – Junior National Team alum and recent World Baseball Classic Team Canada member Édouard Julien is a big leaguer!
The Québec City native has been called up to the majors by the Minnesota Twins ahead of their game this afternoon at Target Field in Minnesota against the Chicago White Sox.
Julien is set to become the 11th Canadian to appear in the big leagues in the 2023 season and the 32nd graduate of the Junior National Team program to reach the big leagues since 2003.
After two years (2016, 2017) with the Junior National Team program including representing Canada at the 2017 WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup in Thunder Bay, Julien had a standout, two-year stint at Auburn University where he smashed 17 home runs in his freshman season and broke Frank Thomas’ freshman RBI record that had stood since 1987.
Julien was then selected by the Minnesota Twins in the 2019 MLB Draft and has since risen to being one of the top prospects in the organization having belted 35 homers over the last two seasons, including 17 in 2022 at Double-A where he was an All-Star and capped his season being named the Arizona Fall League’s “Breakout Player of the Year”.
Through nine games with Triple-A Saint Paul this season, Julien is hitting .290 (9-for-31) with two home runs, seven walks and a .970 OPS.
Last month at the World Baseball Classic in Arizona, Julien started all four of Canada’s games at second base and went 7-for-13 (.538 BA) with two home runs.
