Bonjour! Meet rising Twins prospect Edouard Julien

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Edouard Julien says that when he arrived in his first big league camp a few weeks ago, Jorge Polanco surprised him by trying to speak French to him -- Julien grew up in Quebec City, deep in Francophone Canada, and didn’t know any English when he moved south to play baseball at Auburn University.

Perhaps more Twins will learn French this year, since Julien is poised to surge up prospect rankings and a likely 2023 MLB debut after slashing .300/.441/.490 with 17 homers, 19 steals and 98 walks in 113 games for Double-A Wichita, coupled with a huge performance in the Arizona Fall League that has placed him squarely on the national radar.

• Julien ranked 15th among Twins prospects in '22

Julien, who played primarily at second base last year, has shown a phenomenal eye and patience since he was selected in the 18th round of the 2019 Draft. He led the Minors with 208 walks across the last two years while adding aggression and pop to his game. MLB.com caught up with him for this Q&A.

MLB.com: Do you have any memorable stories being a French speaker in mostly English- and Spanish-speaking clubhouses?

Julien: I just remember my first day at practice at Auburn, the coaches were explaining drills and they're kind of yelling at me, and I don't speak English. So they're yelling at me and they're talking to me, and I'm just like, "Yeah. Yeah." But he's asking me questions. I'm just answering, "Yes. Yes. Yes." "Are you going to run the bases well today, Eddie?" "Yes." "What are you going to do today? Second base? First base?" "Yes. Yes." I'm just saying, "Yes," because I don't know what to say. It was tough at first, for sure.

MLB.com: Is that why you ended up playing so many places on defense?

Julien: "Where are you going to play?" "Yes. Yes." It was funny.

MLB.com: Have you seen corners of the Internet calling you the God of Walks?

Julien: No, I haven't seen that. But it's a cool name, I'd say.

MLB.com: But you have focused on being more aggressive. How do you find that balance between looking to do damage and your trademark patience?

Julien: I think for the past few years, the focus for the coaches and me has been to be aggressive on the first three pitches. I'm trying to do damage on the first three pitches. And if I don't, I'm going to trust my eyes and I'm not going to swing at balls. That's what I proved last year, that I was able to still walk and get more on base and still hit for average and still hit for power. Maybe one day, I'd rather have the name "God of Hitting" instead of "God of Walks." That would be cool.

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MLB.com: Are there two different versions of you, then? The version who looks to attack and the patient version?

Julien: I wouldn't say that. … It's always been in me to take a lot of pitches and go deep into counts and take good at-bats, but I would say more often, as I go into good competition, they're going to see that I take a lot and maybe attack me a little bit more and try to get strike one and strike two on me real quick. So I need to take advantage of the early counts. If there's a good pitch I can hit and drive and do damage on, I'm going to swing.

MLB.com: Is there a sense for the gravity of your career when you go home?

Julien: Over the years, we've had Russell Martin, Eric Gagne. There's been some good [French Canadian] baseball players. For sure, there's not a lot. … It makes it cool for the other kids back home, that they can look up at someone and think it's possible to play or pitch in the big leagues. But I still have to make it, and I still have to be able to play there every day. I'm not taking that for granted.

MLB.com: How important is it to you to set that example for French Canadians?

Julien: When I was younger, I was looking up to Russell Martin, Phillippe Aumont, guys that were able to make it. It made me believe that I had a chance, that it was possible. Even though it feels like it's super far, I know that I'm closer to it and feels like it's possible. Anybody can dream about it and achieve it.