The numbers might not look it on the surface — especially after an 0-for-8 weekend in Atlanta — but Twins second baseman Edouard Julien believes he is a changed player.

A good hitter at every stage in his career, Julien spent last year, in his words, “trying to deal with failure” amid a sophomore season in the majors that saw him struggle mightily and get demoted to Triple-A multiple times. He came through that experience with a changed mindset.

A little over a week ago, manager Rocco Baldelli shook up the lineup, reinstating Julien in the leadoff spot, where he had hit before. And while he’s hitting .217 now with an OPS that has dipped below .600, he’s exhibited some of the strides he has made. Some of it is visible — he’s hitting breaking balls better, for example — and much of it internal.

“I feel like at times I would have good contact and good at-bats, but not the results I wanted. They would catch the ball and it would drive me so crazy inside,” Julien said. “It felt like at a point last year, I was not hitting, and every time I would hit it, they would catch it.

“I was so down on myself. This year, every time I hit the ball forward and it’s hit hard, I feel like it’s a win.”

That, Julien believes, will help him keep his confidence and work through inevitable slumps.

Julien said he felt like he was in a better spot with his approach by the end of last year, but his swing wasn’t there. He finished the season hitting just .199 with a .616 OPS. He racked up 102 strikeouts in 94 games, many of them looking.

Over the offseason, Julien worked on tweaking his swing so he could cover more pitches and stay through them better. He also believes, after parts of three seasons in the majors, he has a better understanding of what opposing pitchers are trying to do against him.

Where he hit .120 against breaking balls last year, he’s hitting .250 against them this year, per Statcast data.

“He’s been in the big leagues for … a few years and he’s already seen a lot of different things come his way,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He’s been one of the best hitters in the game for a period of time, and also been forced to make real adjustments, too, in his swing and in his approach.”

A spot on the roster wasn’t a guarantee for Julien coming into spring training and he knew it. He said in spring training he was playing with a chip on his shoulder, trying to prove he belonged.

But with Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee on the injured list to begin the year, Julien started the started the season with the Twins and during April has shown some flashes of what he looked like his rookie year, when he hit .263 with 16 homers and 37 RBIs in 102 games.

“Even when I’m getting outs right now, I come back and I’m not lost,” he said. “I’m not wondering what’s going on. Maybe I just missed a pitch, or he made a good pitch. I just like my odds right now. Every time I’m at the plate, I can do something good.”

White Sox, Angels on tap

The Twins will need much more of that from Julien and his teammates to overcome a 7-15 start to the season. Last year, the Twins found themselves in a similar position, beginning 7-13 before a stretch where they faced the Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Angels and then the White Sox again.

The Twins used the soft part of their schedule — the White Sox recorded the most losses in a season in the history of Major League Baseball last year — to jumpstart their season, going on a 12-game winning streak.

Beginning Tuesday, the Twins will face those two teams over their next six games, giving themselves a good opportunity to right the ship. The Angels are hovering around .500, but the White Sox (5-16) have the American League’s worst record.

Briefly

Bailey Ober will take the ball for the first game of the series against Chicago, which kicks off at 6:40 p.m. on Tuesday. He will be opposed by Davis Martin. Ober, who gave up three runs in 6⅓ innings last time out, did not face the White Sox when the Twins played them earlier this season. … This will mark the second Tuesday home game televised on Fox 9. The game will also be aired on Twins.TV.

The Cathedral of St. Paul has joined the global reaction to the news of Pope Francis’ death on Monday, the day after Easter, at the age of 88.

The Cathedral is livestreaming its Mass for Pope Francis, which began at noon on Monday, led by Archbishop Bernard Hebda.

This follows the Cathedral’s regular early daily Mass, in which people prayed for the repose of the pope’s soul.

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By ILLIA NOVIKOV

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian attacks during the 30-hour Easter ceasefire unilaterally declared by President Vladimir Putin over the weekend killed three people in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, a regional official said Monday.

Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of Kherson’s administration, wrote on Telegram that the casualties occurred over the last 24 hours, adding that three others were wounded in the region, parts of which are occupied by Russia.

After Putin declared the move on Saturday, Ukraine responded by voicing readiness to reciprocate any genuine ceasefire but said the Russian attacks continued. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia violated the ceasefire more than 2,900 times.

Zelenskyy said that Russian forces carried out 96 assault operations along the front line, shelled Ukrainian positions more than 1,800 times and used hundreds of drones during the course of the ceasefire. “The nature of Ukrainian actions will continue to be mirror-like: we will respond to silence with silence, and our blows will be a defense against Russian blows. Actions always speak louder than words,” he said.

The Russian Defense Ministry, for its part, listed 4,900 Ukrainian violations of the ceasefire. It charged that Moscow’s forces “strictly observed the ceasefire and remained at previously occupied lines and positions.”

Speaking Monday, Putin said that the fighting resumed after the ceasefire expired at midnight (2100 GMT). Commenting on Zelenskyy’s call for a comprehensive 30-day ceasefire or, at least, a halt on strikes on civilian facilities, the Russian leader noted that Kyiv was trying to “seize the initiative,” adding that “we must think about it, carefully assess everything and look at the results of the ceasefire.”

The Russian leader has previously made a full ceasefire conditional on halting Western arms supplies to Kyiv and Ukraine’s mobilization effort — demands rejected by Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that Russia would inform “all the interested parties” about the Ukrainian violations of the ceasefire.

Peskov said that Russia “remains open to searching for a peaceful settlement and is continuing to work with the American side,” adding that “we certainly hope that this work will produce results.”

Asked if there is a proposal from the U.S. that Kyiv recognize Crimea that Moscow annexed in 2014 as part of Russia, President Donald Trump responded that “I will be giving you a full detail over the next three days,” adding that “we had very good meetings on Ukraine, Russia.”

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Zelenskyy has firmly ruled out the recognition of any temporarily occupied Ukrainian territory as Russian.

On Monday, the Ukrainian president spoke to U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer ahead of Wednesday’s talks between Ukrainian, British, French and U.S. officials in London.

“We are ready to move forward as constructively as possible, just as we have done before, to achieve an unconditional ceasefire, followed by the establishment of a real and lasting peace,” Zelenskyy said on X. “An unconditional ceasefire must be the first step toward peace, and this Easter made it clear that it is Russia’s actions that are prolonging the war.”

Overnight into Monday, the Russian forces fired three missiles at Ukraine’s southern regions of Kherson and Mykolaiv regions, as well as 96 Shahed drones targeting other parts of the country, Ukraine’s Air Force reported. It said it downed 42 drones, while 47 others were jammed mid-flight.

In the Dnipropetrovsk region, Russian drones sparked a fire at an “outbuilding” and a “food enterprise,” regional administration head Serhii Lysak wrote on Telegram. No one was injured in the attack, he said. An unspecified infrastructure object was damaged in the Cherkasy region overnight, regional head Ihor Taburets said on Telegram.

Four civilians also sustained injuries in the partially occupied Donetsk region, according to regional head Vadym Filashkin, who said that the Russian forces shelled settlements in the region five times over the last 24 hours.

Chris Megerian contributed to this report from Washington.

Gophers football might challenge its program record for amount of selections in the NFL Draft this week.

Minnesota set the modern-day, seven-round record at five picks in 2020 when Antoine Winfield Jr., Tyler Johnson, Carter Coughlin, Kamal Martin and Chris Williamson heard their names called. This year, the U’s top hopefuls include Aireontae Ersery, Jay Joyner, Justin Walley, Cody Lindenberg, Max Brosmer and Daniel Jackson.

In a bit of foreshadowing, Minnesota set a school record when that half dozen went to the NFL Scouting Combine this winter, although that isn’t a one-to-one comparison; the combine brought 329 players to Indianapolis and the NFL Draft only includes 257 picks this week in Green Bay.

Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck was asked last week how many picks he foresees for the U.

“As many as we possibly can have, hopefully a record,” he said, “That would be great.”

The Gophers’ weight room inside the Larson Football Performance Center has banners along its second-story balcony commemorating its streak of first- and second-round picks: safety Winfield (Buccaneers, 2020); receiver Rashod Bateman (Ravens, 2021); defensive end Boye Mafe (Seattle, 2022); center John Michael Schmitz (Giants, 2023); and safety Tyler Nubin (Giants, 2024).

“We take a lot of pride in it,” Fleck said. “I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘All shucky darn, oh wow, yeah, it’s just kind of luck.’ We take a lot of pride in developing our players (into) what they dream of being.”

The Gophers don’t have a projected first-round pick for Thursday. Instead, they have a few players who could be taken in the second and third rounds on Friday, and more likely waiting until the fourth through seventh rounds, and ensuing free agency, on Saturday.

Here’s a big board of where Gophers are projected to go based on mock drafts from The Athletic and Pro Football Focus, along with NFL.com projections and their Relative Athletic Score (RAS) from the combine and U Pro Day.

Cream of the class

1. Aireontae Ersery, left tackle

The Athletic, 2nd round; PFF, 3rd round; NFL.com, 6.25 (eventual starter); RAS, 9.42 out of 10

The 2024 Big Ten offensive lineman of the year has the size (6-foot-6 and 331 pounds) and athleticism (5.01-second 40-yard dash) to be a starting tackle in the NFL. The Kansas City, Mo., native is considered to be outside the upper crust of the position in this class.

Next tier

2. Jay Joyner, defensive end

The Athletic, 5th round; PFF: 6th round, NFL.com: 5.97 (average backup or special teamer); RAS, 6.88

At 6-4, 262 pounds and with above-average testing, the Connecticut product will entice teams as an EDGE player. But his production at the U dipped from a team-high 7½ sacks and 46 pressures in 2023 to 4½ sacks and 31 pressures in 2024.

3. Justin Walley, cornerback

The Athletic, 6th round; PFF, 4th round; NFL.com, 5.96 (average backup or special teamer); RAS, 5.97

Walley was plugged in as a starting cornerback as a true freshman and became Mr. Reliable. Fleck called Walley one of the best players he’s ever coached. While far from the biggest at 5-foot-10, 190 pounds, the Mississippian amassed 155 tackles and seven interceptions in his career.

Likely Day 3 options

4. Cody Lindenberg, linebacker

The Athletic, 5th-6th rounds; PFF, 7th round; NFL.com, 5.80 (average backup or special teamer); RAS, 8.16.

Overcame injuries in 2021 and 2023 to lead the U with 94 total tackles and be named all-Big Ten first team last fall. A studious player who has five-time All-Pro Luke Kuechly as a mentor, the Anoka native has old-school size (6-2, 236) but the athleticism to play at the next level.

5. Max Brosmer, quarterback

The Athletic, 6-7th rounds; PFF, 7th round; NFL.com, 5.83 (average backup); RAS, not tracked.

The New Hampshire graduate transfer made a successful transition from FCS to the Big Ten, where he set the U’s single-season completion record (268) last fall. He’s an intelligent player from Georgia who prepares at an exceptional level to overcome some limits and set up a backup role in the NFL.

6. Daniel Jackson, receiver

The Athletic, free agent; PFF, free agent; NFL.com, 5.85 (average backup or special teamer); RAS, 7.13.

The Kansas City, Mo., native developed into one of the most-productive receivers in Gophers history with 208 receptions, 2,685 yards and 19 touchdowns — all top six in school history. He projects into a fringe slot receiver in the NFL.

Sleeper

7. Jack Henderson, Nickleback

The Athletic, free agent; PFF, free agent; NFL.com, N/A; RAS, 9.38.

The Southeastern Louisiana transfer’s RAS score ranked 78 out of 1,235 strong safeties from 1987 to 2025. At 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, he is a versatile player who made a successful leap from FCS over two seasons, with 44 tackles and six sacks a year ago.

Other hopefuls

Cornerback Ethan Robinson, guard Tyler Cooper, defensive end Danny Striggow, guard Quinn Carroll, receiver Elijah Spencer, tight end Nick Kallerup, kicker Dragan Kesich, punter Mark Crawford and running backs Marcus Major and Jaren Mangham.

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