It’s not typical that a player calls over a media member in the clubhouse, especially not one as quiet as Matt Wallner -- so it was a bit of a surprise when, on Wednesday, he called across the room as the clubhouse was closing to the press.

Turns out he’d been thinking about a request made in passing roughly two weeks ago, when he’d been asked about funny moments involving Edouard Julien -- because it seems a significant part of the clubhouse dynamic is in poking fun at their French Canadian second baseman/leadoff hitter extraordinaire.

So, while Julien sat in front of his locker (directly next to Wallner’s) with an amused smile, Wallner explained how they were in Arizona and watched an outfielder drop a fly ball, and were talking about how the “sky was high that day,” when Julien, still learning English, retorted with his own idiom -- “Oh, the sky is pitch blue” -- drawing a raucous laugh from outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr., who was getting changed two lockers away.

The fact that he shares this story in front of a smiling Julien is simply part of the show.

“Because Eddy likes it. That’s why it’s so easy,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He likes dishing it out and he likes taking it. Some guys dish it out because they want you to give it back to ‘em. I think that’s Eddy.”

“I think it's because I can take it and I dish it a little bit, so they like doing it,” Julien said.

Julien’s mannerisms and occasional verbal stumbles bring lightness to the clubhouse, his teammates say, and the good-natured ribbing is rooted in a respect for Julien as a player and the work he put in to get to this point as part of a journey that started when he couldn’t speak English at all entering college, having grown up in Quebec City.

“What I think is most impressive about Eddy is that he went to Auburn not knowing any English, and I think that's incredible,” Kyle Farmer said. “You go to Auburn, Alabama, and not know any English? It's pretty impressive he did that.”

Farmer, who has been Julien’s mentor and an older brother figure of sorts, is the ringleader, and Christian Vázquez is also said to be heavily involved. Willi Castro and Carlos Correa do their heavy share of prodding, Julien added. When players were polled by team social media before their annual egg toss competition who would be the first out, Julien was the overwhelming answer.

Even Baldelli has institutionalized the vibe, with a running gag that started at a team meeting last October, when he called Julien up to the front of the room, in front of everyone, and simply handed Julien his coffee cup to hold up there for the duration of the meeting.

When Baldelli addressed the team in the Twins’ annual start-of-spring meeting on the first full-squad workout day in Fort Myers, he again summoned Julien to the front of the room -- where Julien took his sweatshirt off to reveal a bright shirt emblazoned with the face of third-base coach Tommy Watkins before he received the coffee cup and sat quietly in a chair next to Baldelli while the skipper addressed the team.

“He's always a little nervous that he's going to have to do something extra in there, but so far, he's just been the coffee guy,” Wallner said.

This past offseason, FanGraphs contributing writer Davy Andrews, a musician (and bandmate of our own Mike Petriello and Michael Clair), wrote an article about Julien’s 2023 breakout and paired it with a meme-like song entitled “Edouard Julien, Are You Gonna Rule Again,” featuring a video of Julien’s face multiplying, shooting laser eyes and bouncing around a screen.

You’d better believe Farmer was playing that in the clubhouse for all his teammates to hear before a game this spring. (Julien hit a leadoff homer that day.)

The Twins waited for Julien to establish himself as a successful big leaguer before the jesting started -- they wanted to make sure he felt comfortable in the clubhouse first, and get to know him a bit -- and it was around the time Julien had a huge series in Seattle last July, going 9-for-15 with two homers, including one off Luis Castillo, that they started prodding at him, Farmer said.

“It kind of takes a while to really get a feel for somebody, and a read on him,” Farmer said. “I think we were out one night in Detroit and had a good dinner and good laughter and I realized, ‘Man, this guy, he's pretty funny, but he doesn't really know what's going on, either.’”

Julien insists he doesn’t try to be funny -- that’s just who he is, and they all get a kick out of his ability to deal one-liners right back at them.

“He's definitely witty,” Wallner said. “He's getting better as he masters the English language.”

“I love him. He works hard. He's funny,” Vázquez said. “He likes to joke all the time.”

Farmer is all too happy to share how he and hitting coach Derek Shomon laugh when they see Julien throw his hands up and grunt or smack the side of his head when he misses a pitch at the plate. (Farmer does impressions of both.)

“Also the funny thing on the field is that when he goes for a ball and he dives, he does the double-knee slide, which I'd never seen,” Farmer said. “He'll go down and he'll slide double knees, like Tony Hawk in Pro Skater. I've never seen it before, so I laugh at that.”

It’s because they know they’ll get it back from him, double.

“If they're comfortable ripping me, I can be comfortable ripping them,” Julien said. “I'm not being an idiot about it -- I know I'm not going to pick on Correa, you know? But now, I feel comfortable with everybody, so it's fun.”

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