OF Tristan Pompey, 3rd round (89th overall) - Miami Marlins - Signed - $645,000
With their third round (89th overall) pick, the Miami Marlins have selected OF Tristan Pompey.
Hometown: Mississauga, Ont.
Bats/Throws: S-R
Height/Weight: 6’ 4” 200 lbs
Previously drafted: Minnesota Twins, 31st round, 2015
Team(s): University of Kentucky, Wareham Gatemen, Cape Cod
Coaches: Nick Mingione, Gary Henderson, Don Sneddon
Past teams: Toronto Mets, Canadian Junior National Team, Oakville Royals, Mississauga Majors
Previous Coaches: Ryan McBride, Rich Leitch, Greg Hamilton, Mike Siena, Mike Swinton.
The most influential person in my baseball life -- besides my father (Ken Pompey): Older brother Dalton, a 16th round selection in 2010 by Toronto Blue Jays scout Jamie Lehman. Dalton has played parts of four big league seasons.
Twitter Handle: @lavsav_
Number: Wears No. 6 as a tribute to the nickname for his hometown of Toronto, 'The 6.'
Signing bonus: $645,000.
Slot Money: $642,600
Scout: Alex Smith
Scouting Reports
Perfect Game (April 25, 2018)
Once he returned from a minor early season injury Tristan Pompey has helped set the tone for Kentucky, hitting out of the leadoff slot and having a good offensive season. As of this writing, he’s slashing .331/.431/.554, leading the team in doubles and showing solid pull-side home run power.
Pompey is a lithely built athlete who is easy to dream on, physically. He’s strong now but could hold more strength on his frame, and with that physical projection comes significant power projection as well. Pompey’s calling card is his offensive profile, a switch-hitter with power from both sides. He has plenty of bat speed and when he gets the ball into the air he does a very good job of driving it. There’s looseness to the hands and he shows a solid approach as well, though there is some swing-and-miss to his game. If you believe in the projection, it’s well within reason to see Pompey with plus raw power from both sides of the plate to go along with enough hit-ability to get to that power in game scenarios.
Pompey is a solid athlete who is likely best suited for left field at the professional level, which is where he plays for Kentucky now. He’s a solid athlete in a vacuum but doesn’t seem to always read the ball well off the bat in the outfield, and is a bit slow into his jumps as a result. His arm also makes left field, or potentially even first base, his likely long-term defensive homes.
Pompey slots into the PG draft board in the 2-3 round range right now, though his performance metrics in addition to his TrackMan metrics likely push him up a bit from that. He could hear his name called in the comp round range, though the second round seems more likely at this point.
MLB Pipeline
Scouting grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 50 | Run: 55 | Arm: 45 | Field: 45 | Overall: 50
The younger brother of Blue Jays outfielder Dalton Pompey, Tristan is more advanced and more physical than his sibling at the same stage of their careers. A 31st-round pick out of a Canadian high school by the Twins in 2015, he has the tools to go in the first round three years later. To join Chad Green (1996) and Evan White (2017) as the only Kentucky position players ever to go that high, he’ll have to shake off a down summer in the Cape Cod League that left scouts questioning his ability to hit with wood bats as well as his effort.
A switch-hitter, Pompey shows aptitude and power from both sides of the plate. He has the ability to hit for a high average with 15 or more homers per year, though his Cape struggles were a surprise after he batted .361/.464/.541 during a breakout sophomore season with the Wildcats. He has logged similar numbers as a junior, displaying a quick bat, good strength and a patient approach.
Though Pompey has solid-to-plus speed, he’s not always that fast out of the batter’s box and is still learning to get the most out of his quickness on the bases and in the outfield. He played mostly right field in his first two years at Kentucky before seeing more action in left field this spring, and he needs to improve his reads and routes. His arm is fringy at best, making him better suited for left field than right.
2018 season, junior at Kentucky: Batted .335 with 20 doubles, seven homers and 39 RBIs ... Had an 1.005 OPS in 50 games (third UK player to have an OPS over 1.000) while going 10-for-13 stealing bases ... In SEC play he hit .328 with 11 doubles, three home runs, 22 RBIs and a team-high five stolen bases ... Had a 44-game reached base safely streak dating to last season, including 18 multi-hit games and eight multi-RBI games ... Double and an RBI against Vanderbilt ... Double against Vandy ... Single against Vandy ... Was 4-for-5, with two doubles, a homer and four RBIs in win over Murray State ... A pair of hits against Mississippi State ... Plus a single facing Mississippi State .... Two doubles, four RBIs, plus three walks against Mississippi State ... A pair of hits, including a solo homer facing Indiana ... Two hits against Tennessee in back-to-back games, including one double ... Four hits, one RBI in three-game Missouri series ... Double against Florida ... Three hits with a double, homer and two RBIs against South Carolina ... Three hits, including a double against South Carolina ... Single, three RBIs against Louisville ... Solo homer against Alabama ... Two hits, plus RBI vs. Miami of Ohio ... Double, homer, five RBIs against Auburn ... Single facing Auburn ... Single against Xavier ... Facing Arkansas 2-for-3 with an RBI, Two hits and two RBIs ... Against Texas A&M: RBI double run-scoring single ... Three-run homer against Northern Kentucky ... Missed nine starts, pinch hitting in four of those games due to sprained ankle, ending a streak on 85 consecutive starts ... Homered and had hits from both side of the plate in opener against Wofford.
Summer of 2017: Competed in College Home Run Derby at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha in Omaha, Neb. July 1. Had 16 homers in the first round, 11 in the second for 27 in all
2017 season as a sophomore at Kentucky: Batted .361 with 18 doubles, 10 homers, 45 RBIs, 1.005 OPS, 9-for-13 stealing bases ... Led the Southeastern Conference with a .410 batting average in league games, while also tallying the most hits and finishing in the top three in runs, on-base percentage, and total bases. He now ranks third on UK’s single-season hits list with 96 this year, third in runs with 70 and fifth in walks with 46 ... Had 28 extra-base hits ... Nine of his 10 home runs came in SEC play and he slugged .541 on the season.
Honours
2018 Honours: Golden Spikes Award mid-season list ... Earned SEC POW honors with 10 RBIs .... All-Southeastern Conference Preseason First Team ... National Collegiate Baseball Writers preseason All-America squad First Team ... Perfect Game Pre-Season All-America ... Preseason All-Conference Team ... Baseball America 2018 conference player of the year
2017 Honours: Earned All-America honours as a sophomore after hitting .361/.464/.541 with 10 home runs and nine stolen bases
2016 Honours: Earned First-Team All-SEC and All-America honors from Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, and Perfect Game/Rawlings ... Recognized as South All-Region First-Team by the ABCA ... Earned SEC co-Freshman of the Week honors for Week 1 ... SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll
Cole Shelton: For Pompey choosing Kentucky was right choice