Edouard Julien, moved to leadoff in Twins lineup, is showing growth as a hitter

There was an at-bat last week in which Edouard Julien saw six curveballs from Kansas City Royals starter Seth Lugo. Julien whiffed at the first two curveballs he saw, made an adjustment and fouled two more before hitting one that hung over the plate for an RBI single.

Two days later, Julien delivered a three-hit game, including a double on a first-pitch slider from Detroit Tigers reliever Brenan Hanifee.

Julien, looking much better against offspeed pitches than he did a year ago, moved up to leadoff in the Twins lineup for the past two games.

“He’s made some good swing adjustments, but I also think on the mental side of things, he’s a much stronger and better hitter,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said.

Julien thought his approach was OK at the end of last season — he hit .199 in 266 at-bats with a .616 OPS — but he needed to make changes to his swing. He understood pitchers want to feed him a lot of offspeed pitches. Now he feels more prepared to cover the plate with his swing and his timing improved.

It was the first time he truly struggled as a hitter in his baseball career, and he learned from it.

“I feel like at times I would have good contact and good at-bats, but not the results that I wanted. They would catch the ball, and it would drive me so crazy inside,” Julien said. “I was so down on myself. This year, every time I hit the ball forward, at a good angle and it’s hit hard, I feel like it’s a win. I don’t take every loss like it’s a huge thing.”

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Julien, who regularly hit leadoff in 2023, entered Monday night’s series opener against the New York Mets with eight hits in his past six games, including three extra-base hits.

“For me, it’s just feeling good at the plate,” Julien said. “Even when I’m getting outs right now, I come back and I’m not lost, right? I’m not wondering what’s going on. Maybe I just missed a pitch or he made a good pitch. I just like my odds right now. Every time I’m at the plate, I can do something good.”

Ty France was named American League player of the week after he totaled 11 hits in 25 at-bats (.440 batting average) with two homers, two doubles and six RBI in seven games last week.

It was the second time France earned the weekly honor in his seven-year career.

“It’s been a while,” said France, who received co-AL player of the week on April 25, 2022. “Last time I won it, I got to share it with Miguel Cabrera after he got his 3,000th hit. It’s cool to be recognized solo this time.”

France signed with the Twins on a $1 million nonguaranteed contract in February, and he quickly earned a starting spot at first base with the way he hit throughout spring training.

“I don’t really need the validation,” France said. “The numbers are what they are. I busted my butt all offseason to get to this point. Now the job is just to keep it going. It’s one thing to do it for a week, but to carry it throughout the whole year is a different animal.”

Royce Lewis, sidelined because of a moderate left hamstring strain, started to increase his baseball activities over the past week.

He has taken on-field batting practice since Thursday, hitting one day with the Class AAA St. Paul Saints and then whenever the Twins hit on the field before night games. He fielded ground balls in team-wide defensive drills before Monday’s game.

“You know me, I’m excited to play,” Lewis said. “I could play one-legged, it doesn’t matter. I’m feeling great, man. I’m excited to be out here with the boys again, grinding with them, going through the good and bad times.”

Lewis isn’t expected to rejoin the Twins until May, but he’s energized hanging around his teammates during home games.

“When things are going good, I want to be there,” Lewis said. “When things are going bad, I want to be there even more.”

The Twins lost reliever Scott Blewett off waivers to the Baltimore Orioles on Monday.

Blewett, 29, was designated for assignment Saturday. He made two appearances for the Twins this season and yielded one run and four hits in 4⅔ innings while striking out five.