Fresh off a silver medal at the Under-18 European Baseball Championship and qualification for the Under-18 Baseball World Cup, Emilio Götz has put pen to paper with the Detroit Tigers. The left-handed hitting centerfielder and pitcher announced the news on his Instagram this afternoon, becoming the only European player currently under contract with the Michigan ballclub.
Götz will almost certainly sign as an outfielder after vaulting up the European prospect charts in the last year. He first emerged as a potential prospect in 2022 in the Perfect Game Endless Summer Classic in Florida, where he was named to the All-Tournament Team. Two years—and a growth spurt of six inches and eighty pounds of muscle—later, and Götz’ top exit velocity at the plate at the Regensbury Academy was 93.4 mph against competition up to two years older than him, and he was hitting 78 mph as a 15-year-old southpaw [link].
By last summer, competing as a 16-year-old in the Under-19 Gateway tournament, Götz had hit 6-foot-2, 185 pounds, topped out at 95.6 off the bat while sitting a whopping 92.6, and had added eight miles per hour to his fastball. Despite the added muscle, the lefty-swinger had dropped his sprint speeds over the 20- and 60-yard dash by about eight percent, both checking in at just higher than ‘elite’ times [link].
Later last summer, Götz suited up for Germany at the 2025 Under-18 Baseball World Cup. Still only 16, he played in every game, hitting .250/.308/.292 with four stolen bases in eight games against vastly more experienced competition. Last week, the rising high school junior (Grade/Year 11) gave Baseball Deutschland an MVP-caliber performance, slashing .455/.520/.773 with four stolen bases in six games. On Day Two [link], he homered versus Spain, a day after he drove in six with a triple and a double against Belgium [link]. Götz had at least one hit and one run scored in every game of the U18 Baseball Euros.
“You were a true leader at the European Championship, leading by example with strong performances and inspiring your team,” proclaimed Simon Gühring, long-time Germany senior national team member. “Your talent and the hard work you put in every day are unmistakable. You have more than earned that professional contract, Emilio!“
This performance at the international level is on top of a breakout season in the Deutsche Baseball Liga (DBL) for Untouchables Paderborn, for whom Götz has .322/.447/.529 with nine stolen bases across 24 games in all competitions. He is tied for the team lead in runs (23), second average, home runs (tied), and walks, and third in stolen bases (tied) and RBI (19), also earning DBL Player of the Week on June 4. He debuted for Paderborn Baseball last summer, slashing a very respectable .260/.365/.411 as a 16-year-old, earning the club’s ‘Most Improved Player’ award.
“Playing professional baseball has always been a childhood dream of mine, and making it a reality is such a pleasure that I am so grateful for,” noted Götz on his Instagram [link], “I want to thank God for everything He has done for me and for putting me in the situation that I am in right now.“
Pictures courtesy of Götz’s Instagram account. Gühring’s comments translated using Google.