(New York) The Minnesota Twins knew they had a diamond in the rough in Édouard Julien, who could become one of their key players for the future. But they would never have dreamed of such a performance in his second career game in the Major Leagues.
Julien was the opening batter of the Twins’ role against the New York Yankees on Thursday night. In front of twenty relatives and friends who had come to Yankee Stadium for the occasion, he achieved not one feat, but two in the first round.
He first hit his first major league hit — a single to the right — before following up with his first long pitch, part of a nine-run first-inning push by the Twins. The Minnesota team easily took the measure of the Yankees 11-2.
It was the most productive inning in Twins history against the Yankees.
Julien thus became the fourth batter since 1974 to hit his first hit and his first career homer in the same inning, according to OptaStats. The last player to accomplish this feat was Aramis Garcia, with the San Francisco Giants in 2018.
Inserted in eighth place the day before, Julien collected a walk in three appearances in a 3-1 victory for the Twins at the expense of the Chicago White Sox.
Julien is the Twins’ fourth prospect according to MLB.com and Baseball America magazine and the 96th in all of baseball according to MLB Pipeline.
Baseball America ranks him first among Twins prospects in batting discipline and his management of the strike zone.
The baseball player, who turns 24 on April 30, was drafted in the 18th round, 539th overall, by the Twins in 2019.
The Twins will face the Yankees again on Friday in New York.
