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Blue Jays Nation’s Top 25 Canadian Baseball Prospects for 2026: #13 Émilien Pitre
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Photo credit: © Kareem Elgazzar, Cincinnati Enquirer via Imagn Content Services, LLC
Ryley Delaney
Feb 7, 2026, 16:00 ESTUpdated: Feb 7, 2026, 16:08 EST
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The Tampa Bay Rays have a handful of Canadians in their farm system, including Repentigny, Quebec native Émilien Pitre, who ranks as Blue Jays Nation’s 13th-best Canadian prospect heading into the 2026 season.

#13 – Émilien Pitre

Hometown: Repentigny, Quebec
Organization: Tampa Bay Rays
Draft: 2nd round, 2024 (TBR)
Position: Second base/Shortstop
Bats/Throws: Left/Right
Born in a Montréal suburb, Pitre attended Félix-Leclerc Secondary School and went undrafted in his first season of eligibility. Honouring his commitment to the University of Kentucky, the middle infielder appeared in just 11 games in his freshman season. He got more playing time in 2023, slashing .318/.440/.413 with a home run in 281 plate appearances for a 104 wRC+.
In Pitre’s junior year at Kentucky, he slashed .301/.420/.519 with 10 home runs in 295 plate appearances for an 111 wRC+, walking more (15.9 BB%) than he struck out (12.9 K%). Pitre signed for a bonus of about $1.523 million, and began his professional career with the Tampa Bay Rays’ Single-A team to end the 2024 season. Over 92 plate appearances, the middle infielder slashed .299/.402/.403 with no home runs.

2025 season

Pitre played well in his short Single-A tenure, but the question heading into 2025 is whether or not he could find success at the High-A level. Well, he did just that.
Over 118 games, the Repentigny native slashed .268/.356/.393 with nine home runs in 524 plate appearances, giving him a 122 wRC+. Pitre’s K% jumped to 20.4%, but he still found success drawing walks, finishing the season with an 11.6 BB%.
Pitre is capable of playing shortstop, appearing in 26 games last season for 209.1 innings, but just like in college, most of his playing time has come at second base. In 85 games, he made eight errors, more than his six at shortstop, but far less frequent.
Thanks to his strong season, Pitre ranked as Fangraphs’ 29th-best prospect in their mid-season update and as Baseball America’s 14th-best prospect. He’s a strong defender at the key stone and is a hit-over-power type of player.

Looking ahead to 2026

The 2026 season will be Pitre’s second full season as a professional. At 23 years old, there’s a good chance that Pitre will find his way to Double-A, either to begin the 2026 season or midway through it after a strong start to his year.
With a good eye at the plate, being able to make contact, and strong defence at second base, there’s strong building blocks to be a utility player at the major league level. If Pitre’s power can take another jump, expect him to raise up the minor league ladder rapidly.
#14 – Sam Shaw
#15 – Will Hynes
#16 – Myles Naylor
#17 – Dasan Brown
#21 – Jacob Zibin
#22 – Eric Hartman
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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