Minnesota Twins Reveal Edouard Julien's Lineup Status For Opening Day
As the Minnesota Twins take on the Kansas City Royals on Thursday for Opening Day, they will do so without second baseman Edouard Julien, who appears to be a platoon split with Kyle Farmer.
Even though he figures to be a big part of what the Minnesota Twins do in 2024, Edouard Julien is not getting the start on Opening Day.
With Minnesota facing tough left-hander Cole Ragans, Julien heads to the bench in favor of the right-handed hitting Kyle Farmer.
Though we know that Julien worked extensively on his ability to hit southpaws over the offseason, this could mean that Julien is headed for a true platoon split, at least at the beginning of the year.
Here's how Minnesota will stack up against Ragans on Thursday:
Byron Buxton, CF
Ryan Jeffers, C
Royce Lewis, 3B
Carlos Correa, SS
Carlos Santana, 1B
Max Kepler, RF
Kyle Farmer, 2B
Willi Castro, LF
Manuel Margot, DH
Pablo Lopez, SP
Julien made his Major League Debut last year, hitting .263 with a .381 on-base percentage. He also popped 16 homers and drove in 37 runs as the team won the American League Central and captured a series win in the American League wild card round.
Despite his success, he rarely played against left-handers, getting just 46 at-bats against them. He hit only .196 with no homers and one RBI in those situations. Perhaps they will give him more chances against lefties later in the year, but that's not happening today.
Ragans does appear to be one of the top lefties in the AL heading into 2024. After arriving in a trade from the Texas Rangers last year, he went 5-2 with a 2.64 ERA. In 71.2 innings, he fanned 89 hitters with KC.
First pitch is 4:10 p.m. ET.
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