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INF Émilien Pitre, 2nd Round (58th) - Tampa Bay Rays — Signed $1.52 Million

Name: 2B Émilien Pitre

Hometown: Repentigny, Que.

Height/Weight: 5’ 11” 185 lbs.

Bats/Throws: L-R

Slot Money: $1,525,200

Scout: Eric Roof.

School: Kentucky Wildcats.

Coach: Nick Mingione.

Previous Teams: Junior National Team, Academie Baseball Canada, Quebec.

Previous Coaches: Greg Hamilton, Robbie Fatal.

Rankings: 134th on ESPN top 154 list (May 8) … Ranked 170th on Perfect Game’s top 500 high school and college combined list … Listed 185th by MLB Pipeline’s top 200 ... Listed No. 261st on Baseball America’s top 500 combined list ... Ranked the No. 6 high school player in Quebec and No. 17 player in Quebec by Perfect Game.

Invited to: 2024 MLB Draft Combine, at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, one of 319 draft prospects, invited, 193 collegiate players and 126 high schoolers. Di not attend as Kentucky was at College World Series in Omaha. First things first.

Twitter: emilieN_piTre

2024 season with Kentucky _ Hit .301 with 20 doubles, a triple, 10 homers and 58 RBIs ... Had a .939 OPS in 62 games and was 26-for-35 stealing bases … the 26 steals was tied for 11th in the highest for a player in a single season … He has has 46 stolen bases in a Kentucky uniform, ninth on the school’s career list … At College World Series ... Homered, singled and drove in two runs in 15-4 elimination game against Florida … Singled in 5-1 loss to Texas A@M ... Doubled in two runs in 5-4 win over NC State ... Doubled in two runs against Oregon State in Game 1 of Lexington super regional ... Had three hits, including a double, homer and three RBIs in wins over Western Michigan, Illinois and Indiana State ... Two singles against Arkansas in SEC tournament ... Four hits including two solo homers in three-game series against Vanderbilt ... Had two hits in three-game series against Florida ... Had a four-hit series, with a double, homer and four RBIs against Arkansas ... Had three hits and two RBIs against South Carolina ... Six hits with a double and and two RBIs against Tennessee ... Three hits including a solo homer against Auburn ... Doubled in a run against Samford ... Four hits with two doubles and two RBIs in Alabama series ... Four hits, with a double, two homers and four RBIs against Ole Miss ... Doubled with two RBIs against Missouri ... Three hits with a double and four RBIs in win over Evansville ... Six hits with a double, homer and four RBIs against Georgia ... Doubled in a win over Murray State ... Two hits with a double and an RBI against Kennesaw State ... Four hits with two doubles in two game set with Eastern Kentucky ... Six hits with two doubles, a triple and four RBIs facing Lipscomb ... Had two hits, including a homer and a single, knocking in three runs against Kansas ... Singled twice in a victory over Texas State ... Doubled against Washington State ... Two hits with a double against Morehead State ... Two hits with a double and two RBIs in opening series facing USC Upstate.

2023 summer with Cotuit Kettleers, Cape Cod League _ Hit .250 with five doubles and 13 RBIs with a .670 OPS in 21 games ... Recorded hits in 10 of 17 games with five multi-hit games in 68 at bats.

2023 spring at Kentucky _ Hit .318 with 16 doubles, a triple, one home run and 51 RBIs ... Started all 61 games compiling 71 hits, scoring 51 runs, with a .853 OPS ... Stole 20 bases in 24 attempts ... Had more walks (42) than strikeouts (35) ... Batted .360 against LHPs and .336 with runners on base … Had 16 multi-hit games, including eight with either three or four hits … One of his best days was going 4-for-4 against eventual national champion LSU, including three hits off No. 1 draft selection Paul Skenes ... Had 10-game hit streak and 21-game reached base safely streak.

2022 summer with Bethesda Big Train, Cal Ripken Collegiate League _ Led league during the regular season in hitting .405 ... Had seven doubles, 20 RBIs, 21 walks and six steals ... Finished with a .973 OPS ... Had a 15-game hitting streak.

2022 spring with Kentucky _ Appeared in 11 games without a hit but scored three times as a pinch runner … Walked twice and did not strike out, served as backup at shortstop.

2021 summer with Elmira Pioneers, Perfect Game Collegiate League _ Coming off the COVID-19, he batted .250 with five doubles, 13 RBIs, and two stolen bases with a .346 on-base percentage ... Hit .407 with four doubles, six RBIs and four multi-hit games in his final eight games.

Honours

2024 season _ All Southeastern Conference Second-Team … Named Third Team All-American by ABCA/Rawlings and D1Baseball.com … ABCA/Rawlings All-District (midwest) First Team … Lexington Regional All-Tournament Team … Round Rock Classic All-Tournament Team … Southeastern Conference All-Defensive Team for second-straight spring …. Top 10 second baseman, according to D1Baseball … Selected Academic All-America Honors with a 3.56 towards a degree in Management … Academic All-District, Earned Third Team Division I Academic All-America honors from College Sports Communicators... 2023 season _ Canadian Baseball Network all-Canadian college Third Team ... All Southeastern Conference, Second Team ... SEC All-Defensive Team ... Academic All-District (College Sports Communicators … 2022 season _ All-Cal Ripken Collegiate Summer League ... Bethesda Big Train Golden Spikes Award ... Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball Summer League all-star ... Dean’s List ... SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll ... 2021 season _ Selected to Rawlings/Perfect Game Preseason Canada/Puerto Rico All-Region Team ... 2019 season _ Named best hitter at the Canada Cup ... 2017 season _ Part of national championship team ... 2015 season _ Part of national championship team

Scouting report

MLB Pipeline

Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 30 | Run: 55 | Arm: 50 | Field: 55 | Overall: 40

Pitre starred on Canadian provincial teams and played for the national junior team, ranking as Quebec’s best position player prospect in 2021 before heading to college at Kentucky. He played sparingly as a freshman before becoming a catalyst for the Wildcats the past two seasons. One of the better second-base prospects available, he could fit into the first five rounds.

Pitre has a mature approach, working deep counts and concentrating on making all-fields contact so he can get on base. He’s pulling more pitches and producing solid exit velocities in 2024, but he still has a flat left-handed swing that generates a lot of grounders and cuts into his power production. He struggled with wood bats in the Cape Cod League and may top out at 10 homers per season in pro ball.

A solid runner, Pitre is an aggressive base stealer. He has good infield actions and covers a lot of ground at second base, where he’s a quality defender. His fringy-to-average arm strength will limit his effectiveness at shortstop and third base if he winds up in a utility role.

Baseball America

Pitre is a 5-foot-11, 185-pound Canadian native and second baseman who has shown solid plate discipline and contact skills with Kentucky. He is a singles and doubles hitter who doesn’t hit for much power and doesn’t project to add much more to his frame, but he’ll work counts, take walks when he gets them and is also a good runner who stole 20 bags during the 2023 season.