Shohei Ohtani is The Unicorn. This is not disputed anymore. It’s fact. Check your Encyclopedia Brittanica. It says it under Unicorn, The. Edouard Julien has some unicorn qualities. Not in the same ways as Ohtani, clearly. He’s not going to give you a Quality Start with 12 Ks, obviously. He’s one-of-a-kind in a way more recognizable way. Call him The Unicode. ASCII not what Edouard Julien can do for you, but what you can do–Actually, ASCII what The Unicode can do. He is better than the guy who gets his drink from the barista counter, then proceeds to stand there texting for ten minutes and blocking everyone else, that’s The Unichode. Also, if you run into Randy Johnson, you don’t ask him about killing that bird. That’s Unit Code. That’s the first rule of Unit Code. Second rule of Unit Code–well, I’ve told this story before, but one time I was in a bathroom in Vegas, at the urinal, when I look over to this extremely tall guy at the urinal next to me, and I look up at his face, way up, and I blurted out, “Holy crap, it’s the Big Unit!” Not the kind of thing you say at a urinal. That’s second rule of Unit Code. So, what can we expect from Edouard Julien for 2024 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?
PSYCHE! I’ve rolled out my 2024 fantasy baseball rankings on the Patreon. Don’t wait for the rankings to come out next month. Anyway II, the Edouard Julien sleeper:
Edouard Julien went 16/3/.263 in 338 ABs. Doesn’t sound very Unicode’y, you might be thinking. He had a 31.4% K%. So, he strikes out a lot. That’s not weird. This is Mr. Reply Guy, “Ya know, in the modern game, lots of players strike out. It’s not singular at all. I’m surprised you didn’t know this.” Oh, I get it. He also only swung at 12.2% of balls outside of the zone! The Unicode is this: A guy who doesn’t swing at balls but also strikes out a lot. To give you an idea, Kyle Schwarber strikes out a lot. He swung at 19.3% of balls outside the zone. How on earth do you strikeout 30+% of the time and not swing at any bad pitches? That seems legit goofy. Maybe I’m crazy (this is a real possibility). Juan Soto chases 18.8% of the time! Also, speaking of Sexy Dr. Pepper, he swings at 38.9% of pitches. The Unicode? He only swings 34.3% of the time. Edouard Julien goes up to the plate like Robert De Niro in the movie, Awakenings. When he’s standing at the plate, someone should poke him with a stick. He stands at the plate with those glasses that have pictures of wide-open eyeballs. By the way, if you’re wondering, Julien isn’t the top guy with Called Strike%. He’s close, but he’s 8th, between Nimmo and Betts.
So, The Unicode is a three-true-outcome player on his surface. His walk rate last year 15.7%, which kinda tracks since he never swings at anything. I didn’t feel like doing the search, but I wonder if that’s the highest walk rate for a rookie with at least, say, 300 ABs. That walk rate for a rookie is absurd (I think). If Julien gets better at taking pitches, then medics will check his heart rate, but also he’ll be rocking a .420 OBP. Smoke ’em if you got ’em, I know, but if a 2nd year player has a .420 OBP, there’s no way he goes anywhere but leadoff, and for 550+ ABs, if he’s healthy. Also, his Triple-A K% was 24.7%, so I think we can get to the point where he is not only walking, but also not striking out. Back on things we care about, he has a 13.1% barrel rate. That’s third best in the majors. Wait for your pitch has a benefit, I suppose.
The Unicode only had three steals last year. Yawnstipating, right? Well, he had 21 steals in 47 games in A Ball, 13 steals in 65 games in High-A, 19 steals in 113 Double-A games. So, is this a guy who picks ’em up and puts ’em down in the same spot or was this a guy who just wasn’t running his rookie year? I don’t know, tee be aitch. My guess is he’s not a 20+ steals guy; his speed was middling, but middling speed can get us 10 steals as the 24-year-old gets more comfortable.
The power does not feel completely maxed, but also not Max’d like Muncy. He hit 16 homers last year and I don’t know if gets much higher than that prorated to a full season without a bouncy ball, but that still takes us to around 20 ding-dongs. Seems a lot like a doubles machine with a .400 OBP that could shock with speed. That might not raise the half-mast fully up the pole, but it’s very valuable when you put it at leadoff. He’s going around 225 overall in leagues (early data), but I can’t imagine that moves up much, and he’s a top 100 guy waiting to happen. The Unicode is not just a sleeper when he’s barely blinking at the plate! For 2024 fantasy baseball, I’ll give Edouard Julien projections 103/22/57/.273/8 in 548 ABs with a chance for much more on power, speed and counting stats.
