It was a day of celebration for baseball fans on Thursday, while Quebecer Édouard Julien had to wait a few additional innings before making his own comeback with the Minnesota Twins.
Julien, 24, was in fact left out by manager Rocco Baldelli for the start of the game against the Kansas City Royals. The reason? The presence of a left-handed starter on the opponent’s side, Cole Ragans.
• TO HAVE: Home run for “Vlad Junior”, victory for the Blue Jays
• Read also: Will Édouard Julien play against the “left legs”?
Before arriving in the game, which the Twins won by a score of 4 to 1 at Kauffman Stadium, Julien saw his teammate Royce Lewis hit a solo home run in the first inning. Having obtained another hit in the top of the third, Lewis was injured while running. From then on, the Quebecer was inserted into the game.
Julien also had to face the left-handed Ragans in his first at-bat and he responded by hitting a single to center field. Here he is with an average of 1.000 against left-handed gunners this season. More seriously, the hit could make Baldelli think about the next use of Julien.
The young man from Quebec completed his day with a 1-for-2 record, also having drawn a walk. On this free pass, at the start of the ninth inning, he skillfully avoided being hit by the shot on a fourth ball, which allowed a teammate to cross home plate following a passed ball.
The Twins, who now have to hope that Lewis’ injury is not too serious, benefited from a good start from their starter Pablo Lopez. The gunner only allowed one run in seven innings of work.
The first hitter
In front of Kansas City fans, Maikel Garcia quickly tied the game 1-1 with a long ball as the Royals’ leadoff hitter this season. Lopez, however, did not give up anything after that. Relievers Brock Stewart and Griffin Jax completed the job for the Twins.
In six innings of work, Ragans allowed only two runs and five hits, including that of Julien. He also had nine strikeouts, a Royals franchise record in a season opener.
The presence of Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, who made the ceremonial throw as a recent Super Bowl champion, ultimately failed to inspire the local club.
An explainable decision
If the decision to place Julien on the bench for the start of the campaign was enough to disappoint some baseball fans in Quebec, it was not very surprising given that advanced statistics are highly regarded by Baldelli and the Twins.
Faced with left-handed pitchers, the Minnesota club therefore prefers to use the versatile defensive player Kyle Farmer at second base in place of Julien. For good reason, in 2023, Farmer maintained a batting average of .290 against “left-footers” while Julien had been limited to a return of .196 and a low rate of presence on the trails of .229 against left-handed gunners. .
On the contrary, it’s a safe bet that Julien will systematically be in the starting lineup against right-handers, as is likely to be the case during the Twins’ next game on Saturday. The Royals’ starter will then be Seth Lugo while the Twins will bet on Joe Ryan. But who knows? Following his hit against Ragans, perhaps Julien will also play against the next left-handed starter.
In the notebook
After two games played last week in Seoul, South Korea, Shohei Ohtani seemed to have made his official entry into Dodger Stadium perfectly Thursday afternoon in Los Angeles. The Japanese phenomenon shrugged off the illegal betting scandal involving his former interpreter and scored a double in his first at-bat, in the opening inning. However, the scene was spoiled a bit as he was caught between the second and third base while his teammate Mookie Betts stopped his run at third base. The powerful Dodgers nevertheless won this game 7 to 1 against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Photo credit: Getty Images via AFP
The Baltimore Orioles picked up where they left off last season, winning their season opener 11-3 against the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday at Camden Yards. Newcomer to the Orioles, the starter Corbin Burnes gave up only one hit, a solo home run by Mike Trout, in six innings. He also had 11 strikeouts.
Photo credit: Getty Images via AFP
The Quebecois Abraham Toro was able to break into the Oakland Athletics lineup at the end of a very good training camp. Toro, who risks being a utility player for the A’s, is one of the team’s 26 regular players and was scheduled to welcome the Cleveland Guardians with his teammates late Thursday evening in Oakland.
Crédit photo : Photo Norm Hall / Getty Images via AFP
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2024-03-29 01:48:22
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