Minnesota Twins Lose Key Starter to Injured List; Recall Exciting Prospect

The Polanco loss is a significant one for a Twins team that currently leads the American League Central. He's hitting .284 with four homers and 14 RBI in 95 at-bats. Lifetime, he's a .271 hitter with 102 homers, 413 RBI and 48 stolen bases.

He made his major league debut in 2014 and has played for the Twins his entire career.

In Julien, the Twins are getting another look at their No. 4 ranked prospect. He was up earlier this year and scuffled, hitting .222 with two homers and four RBI. He represented Canada in this years World Baseball Classic.

For more on Julien, here's a look at his MLB.com prospect profile:

It’s been a slightly unusual path for Julien, a one-time standout on Canada’s junior national team who went from Quebec to play college ball at Auburn. He hit 27 homers over his first two seasons and was deemed eligible for the Draft after Major League Baseball ruled that his secondary school year in Canada counted as a year of college. The power potential was enough for the Twins to go well over slot in Round 18 to sign Julien for $493,000. He led the Minors in walks in 2021, showing off some pop in A ball, then took a step forward in Double-A by batting .300 with 17 homers and 19 steals before capping things off by hitting .400 in the Arizona Fall League.

Julien is proving to be a more complete hitter than he was at Auburn. The power is still very much there, with bat speed and strength helping him drive the ball to all fields and nearly as many homers hit out to left field as to his pull side. No one in the Minors has walked more than he has over the previous two seasons combined and he walked more than he struck out in the AFL. But while his plate discipline is a plus, he can get too passive at times in his desire to see pitches.

The Twins are 24-21 and enter play on Saturday 2.5 games up on the Detroit Tigers.