The Minnesota Twins minor league players of the week are Double-A Wichita infielder Edouard Julien and right-handed pitcher Louie Varland.
Edouard Julien was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 18th round of the 2019 MLB June Amateur Draft from Auburn University (Auburn, AL). Julien was born in Quebec, Canada and ended up playing college ball all the way down south at Auburn, a draft-eligible sophomore who signed with the parent Minnesota Twins in 2019 as an 18th-round draft pick for a $493,500 bonus, way over the slot dollar amount of $125,000 for every player picked after the 11th round.
Julien, 23, played in six games for the Wind Surge this week, hitting .348 (8-for-23) with two doubles, three home runs, nine RBI, five walks, and a .464 OBP, an .826 SLG and a 1.290 OPS. Even though Julien has visited the IL twice this season he has appeared in 53 games and is slashing .287/.429/.466. Drafted as a power hitting third baseman, Julien has been playing mainly second base at Wichita this season. Video clip of Julien having a 7 RBI game.
Louie Varland was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 15th round of the 2019 MLB June Amateur Draft from Concordia University (St. Paul, MN). Varland and this St. Paul native signed for a $115,000 signing bonus. Varland is a repeat winner this season having also won this award on June 12.
Varland, 24, made two starts this week for the Wind Surge on the 25th vs. San Antonio and on the 30th at
Springfield, combining to go 0-1, 4.35 ERA (10.1 IP, 5 ER) with five walks and 13 strikeouts. His highlight of the week was his nine strikeouts over 5.1 innings on Thursday at Springfield. Varland’s SO9 are down a titch this season and his HR9 are up, hopefully not a trend that continues.