Edouard Julien's Strikeout Rate Is Plummeting — And He's Hitting the Ball Harder Than Ever

Edouard Julien has been a frustrating player to track this season. WaiverScout has toggled between watch, add now, and deprioritize on him multiple times since late March. But something tangible has shifted in the last week, and the data is clear: his contact quality and plate discipline are converging in a way that demands your attention.

The Signal: A Strikeout Rate in Freefall

Over the last 7 days, Julien's strikeout rate has dropped to 20.0% — down sharply from 28.4% over the trailing 30 days and a brutal 33.3% over the 14-day window. That 14-day number tells the story of a hitter who was whiffing too much to be useful. The 7-day number tells the story of a hitter who figured something out. A K% under 21% with a 13.3% walk rate? That's a legitimate on-base profile. The approach change is real.

Statcast Validation: Elite Contact Quality

Here's where it gets interesting. Julien's hard-hit rate over the last 7 days is 100.0%, paired with an exit velocity of 97.7 mph. Yes, this is a small window — 15 PA — but zoom out and the trend holds. His 14-day hard-hit rate sits at 60% with a 97.1 mph EV. His 30-day hard-hit rate is 50% at 92.4 mph. The trajectory is unmistakable: Julien is barreling the ball with increasing authority over each successive window. An exit velocity jumping from 92.4 to 97.7 mph in a month isn't noise. The numbers back it up.

The Results Haven't Caught Up — Yet

The batting average paints a mediocre picture: .231 over 7 days, .222 over 14 days, .232 over 30 days. He has just 1 HR and 1 SB across the 30-day window. The wOBA tells a slightly more optimistic story at .308 over 30 days, but the 7-day mark of .268 is underwhelming. So why are we flagging him? Because the process metrics — strikeout rate, walk rate, exit velocity, hard-hit rate — are all moving in the right direction simultaneously. When a hitter makes this kind of mechanical improvement while hitting in Colorado, the results tend to follow.

Ownership Window Is Wide Open

Julien sits at just 2% rostered with stable ownership velocity — meaning nobody is rushing to grab him. Most fantasy publications like FantasyPros and CBS Sports list him but aren't banging the table. That's the window. WaiverScout first flagged Julien as an add back on March 23 when he was rostered in just 0.3% of leagues. We called him an add again on April 12. The signal has ebbed and flowed — we moved him to deprioritize twice when the strikeouts spiked — but we've been tracking this player for over six weeks. The underlying skills keep resurfacing.

If you're looking at the middle infield landscape, compare him to players like Luis Arraez or Luis García Jr. — Julien's 1B/2B eligibility gives him flexibility, and his contact quality right now exceeds what his surface stats suggest.

Verdict: Watch

Julien is a watch, not an add — but he's close. The strikeout rate improvement over the last week is the most encouraging development we've seen from him all season. Pair that with elite-level exit velocity and hard-hit rates trending up across every window, and you have a player whose breakout could come fast. Add him to your watchlist now. If the K% stays under 22% over the next 10-15 PA while maintaining this contact quality, he becomes a priority add in all formats. Don't wait for someone else to notice what the data already shows.