Rays select CF Theo Gillen in first round of 2024 MLB First-Year Player Draft; Add 2B Émilien Pitre and SS Tyler Bell to conclude night one
The Tampa Bay Rays selected center fielder Theo Gillen from Westlake (Tx.) High School with the No. 18 pick in the first round of the 2024 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
The Rays selected second baseman Émilien Pitre (EH-milly-en PEE-tree) in the second round (No. 58 overall) and selected shortstop Tyler Bell in Competitive Balance Round B (No. 66 overall)
Gillen, 18, hit .415 with four doubles, six triples, 7 HR, 30 RBI, 38 runs and 29 stolen bases as a senior in 2024. He earned First Team High School All-American honors from Baseball America following the season. The two-time First Team All-Central Texas selection helped Westlake to the District 26-6A title and Class 6A state tournament during his junior campaign in 2023, marking the school’s first trip to the tournament since 2009.
A University of Texas commit, Gillen was ranked as the No. 8 player in this year’s draft by FanGraphs, No. 23 by Baseball America and No. 28 by MLB.com.
Pitre (PEE-tree) played three seasons at the University of Kentucky, earning SEC All-Defensive Team honors twice (2024, 2023). As a junior this past season, the 21-year-old hit .301/.420/.519 with 20 doubles, one triple, 10 HR, 58 RBI, 57 runs and a team-leading 26 stolen bases in 62 games, helping the Wildcats to a school-record 46 wins and the first College World Series appearance in program history. He was named a Third Team All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association, D1Baseball.com and Rawlings.
As a sophomore in 2023, Pitre slashed .318/.440/.413, recording 16 doubles, one triple, 1 HR, 51 RBI and 51 runs, drawing a team-leading 42 walks against 35 strikeouts. He was named to the All-Southeastern Conference Second Team. On April 13 at LSU, he went 4-for-4, including three hits off the eventual No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 First-Year Player Draft, Paul Skenes. Following the season, Pitre also earned a Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League All-Star nod with the Bethesda Big Train after pacing the league with a .405 batting average. He appeared in 11 games as a freshman at Kentucky in 2022.
Pitre, who hails from Repentigny, Quebec, was a member of the Canadian Junior National Team in 2020. He joins Jeremy Pilon (2023) and Philippe Valiquette (2004) as the only Quebec natives drafted by Tampa Bay.
A switch-hitting shortstop out of Lincoln-Way East (Ill.) High School, Bell hit .400 with eight doubles, 4 HR, 25 RBI, 32 walks, 45 runs and 30 stolen bases in his senior season. As a junior in 2023, he hit .446 with 9 HR, 46 RBI, 54 runs, 32 stolen bases and a 1.420 OPS, leading his team to a school-record 31 wins and the second sectional title in program history. The University of Kentucky commit was a home run derby co-champion at the inaugural Prep Baseball Report All-American Game last September. The outlet also named him the No. 2 prospect in his native Illinois in the 2024 recruiting class.