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.