Rockies designate Edouard Julien for assignment

Julien had been designated for assignment earlier in the week and passed through waivers unclaimed. The 27-year-old hit just .208 (49-for-236) with three homers and five stolen bases in 88 games with the Rockies this season. He’ll continue to function as extra infield depth at the Triple-A level.

Statcast thinks Julien is really unlucky to be hitting .215/.324/.300 in 249 plate appearances, but even if he had the extra 30 points of average and 100 points of slugging he deserves, according to their expected numbers, he still wouldn’t be helping much with his below average defense at second base. The Rockies might want to move on and give Adael Amador another try at some point.

Julien had an .839 OPS through the end of April, a .270 OPS while going 5-for-61 with no extra-base hits in May and now is at .797 in June. Statcast actually thinks he’s been terribly unlucky; with the best EV numbers of his career, including a 51 percent hard-hit rate, he entered tonight with a .410 xSLG versus an actual mark of .298. Still, he’s yet to do enough to suggest he needs to be a lineup fixture down the stretch or a member of the Rockies’ 2027 roster.

Julien doubled in a run in the second, and then picked up a two-run single in the third. He’s swung the bat well in his limited time in June, but the overall production — .222/.323/.306, two homers, four stolen bases in seven chances — leaves an awful lot to be desired.

The error was obstruction, as Julien was planted in front of second base on a Nolan Arenado steal attempt. Arenado was still charged with a caught stealing on the play but was awarded second. Julien hit .304/.396/.443 through the end of April, but he’s 3-for-40 with 16 strikeouts this month. He might begin losing starts to Willi Castro and Tyler Freeman.

The Rockies will go with an entire line shift with left-hander Jesus Luzardo toeing the slab for the Phillies, with Edouard Julien, Troy Johnston and Jake McCarthy joining Moniak on the bench for this one. We could see a similar lineup against Cristopher Sanchez on Sunday, which makes the 27-year-old slugger a tough start in leagues that utilize bi-weekly moves for hitters.

Castro has missed the last four games with a knee injury, but he’ll be back in the lineup at second base and hitting fifth on Wednesday. Since a left-hander pitcher is on the mound, Edouard Julien will shift to the bench, as will Troy Johnston and Jake McCarthy, with Jordan Beck and Brenton Doyle in the lineup and batting first and second, respectively.

Julien has 13 hits in his last seven games, a stretch that has raised his OPS from .639 to .842. That’s still no mixed-league value here, as Julien is a platoon guy with limited power and steal ability (though he has for some reason tried four this year, succeeding twice). He does seem to be the Rockies’ best option as a leadoff man against righties, though.

Castro, 29, has not been able to play since Thursday because of soreness in his right knee. The veteran infielder will take a seat with Edouard Julien once again starting at second base and hitting leadoff.

Julien doubled and scored the go-ahead run to open the sixth. An interesting thing happened earlier in that at-bat, when Julien challenged a 2-1 cutter off the plate and had it briefly turned into a ball, only for the Mets to appeal down to the third base ump afterwards and have it ruled that he swung at the ball. Julien is hitting .282/.363/.394 in 80 plate appearances as the Rockies’ second baseman against righties. That’s solid, but his defense there remains a problem and he’s not really showing enough to be at attractive option at first base or DH. He’s still a fringy major leaguer at this point.