Twins’ return mean it’s back to St. Paul for infielder Edouard Julien

The tuition of Edouard Julien continues and with infielder Royce Lewis and utility man Willi Castro returning from injuries Tuesday it needed to continue in St Paul Julien struggled through a sophomore slump last season and for a brief time this spring appeared to have revealed the swing that made him something of a sensation at the World Baseball Classic But when Lewis and Castro were activated from the injured list on Monday the Twins optioned Julien back to Class AAA St Paul With capable middle infielders in Lewis Castro Carlos Correa Brooks Lee and Jonah Bride on the working roster the at-bats weren t going to be there for Juilen The best thing for him I think is clearly to play manager Rocco Baldelli announced before the Twins series opener against Baltimore on Tuesday night at Target Field Julien burst into the consciousness of majority Twins fans when he played for Canada in the World Baseball Classic where he hit with two doubles and two home runs drew five walks and stole a base in four games It wasn t lost on the Twins either who made him a pretty big part of the American League Central Division winners that year A left-handed hitter playing mostly as a second baseman and designated hitter Julien hit with a on-base percentage and OPS In the postseason he played four games in the division series against Houston and hit for with a home run and four walks But Julien has struggled the past two seasons mostly at the plate but also at second He hit with a OBP in games last season drawing fewer walks in fewer major league games and striking out times On Monday he was hitting with walks in games at-bats I think Eddie just necessities to continue to work on both sides of the ball Baldelli explained He certainly has the ability to do it at this level but I think that getting him out there getting him continual at-bats is going to be critical for him From April - this season Julien hit with a OBP and OPS in six games raising his average to after games I was so down on myself in he advised the Pioneer Press at the time This year every time I hit the ball forward and it s hit hard I feel like it s a win But that was happening less and less After the brief hot streak Julien hit with strikeouts and nine walks in games I m not going to go into the specifics of what I thought of everything that Ed did for the first month of the season or what exactly I want him to really do better Baldelli mentioned All of that s really between the guys in Triple-A now and us here I think there s a lot more in Eddie Julien that he s going to bring to the table for us this year and beyond He has a lot of talent I think he has a chance to be a really good member in this meeting and I think he just necessities to keep working Big returns It was Opening Day for Lewis on Tuesday and he was straightaway penciled in as the designated hitter Lewis injured his hamstring during spring training and didn t play in another competition until playing six for the Saints in late April The excitement s back he commented before the contest The little butterflies as long as I m leaning in the right way the right direction I ll have them working for me instead of against me I m excited Lewis hit with a double and one run batted in at St Paul but has made a habit of returning from injuries with a big competition in the majors After rehabbing from knee surgery Lewis hit safely in each of his first three major league games in and after rehabbing from knee surgery again he went for with a home run and four RBIs in his first major league event in Later after returning from a hamstring strain for the playoffs he was for with two homers and all the Twins RBIs in a - Match win over Toronto Last season Lewis missed games with a quad strain and returned to go for with a home run in a loss to the New York Yankees That s hard to do and he has already done it it feels like five or six times in his career Baldelli declared But you reliably have high expectations for him you perpetually expect he is going to come out and do something When the lights turn on he wants to play Briefly Outfielder Harrison Bader was a late scratch on Tuesday He was pretty ill Baldelli stated We ve had a sparse guys that are sick He s the latest one Related Articles Five weeks into the season five Twins observations Twins infielders Royce Lewis Willi Castro near ready to return Twins change up catchers playing time giving Ryan Jeffers more work Twins third baseman Royce Lewis progressing from hamstring strain What s left to settle Twins still have multiple roster decisions to make