Arjun Nimmala recently put the finishing touches on an impressive rookie season in the Blue Jays organization, but back in May the results were not nearly so positive.
Nimmala opened the year as the youngest player in the Florida State League and, for a span of about six weeks, it showed. There were flashes of the upside that made him the 20th pick in the 2023 MLB draft, yet through 29 games he was hitting .167 with a .586 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.
That’s when the Jays made the difficult decision to take the athletic shortstop out of games and have him report to their player development complex. Once there, the plan was to have the native of Tampa, Fla. to go through a version of extended spring training while altering his mechanics at the plate.
Nimmala, ranked the Jays’ fifth-best prospect by MLB Pipeline, could have balked at the request. The 18-year-old would have been at least somewhat justified in deciding to stick with the approach that netted him a $3-million (U.S.) signing bonus the previous summer. Instead, after some soul-searching, he reported to the complex with an open mind.
“I think initially when I got the news, it was a little sad, a little frustrating,” Nimmala said during a recent phone interview with the Star. “It was pretty obvious I didn’t perform the best.
“But it only took me the night to sleep on it and wake up and say, ‘I’m going to look at this through the Blue Jays’ perspective. I know they’re trying to do this for my own good. I’m going to embrace this, get better and not have to look back at it.’ ”
Nimmala spent the next three weeks trying to overhaul his approach. The Jays had him shorten his swing and stay on his back hip to maintain balance and generate power. They also worked with Nimmala on improving his pre-game routine and mental approach.
No first-generation Indian American has ever been drafted higher (No. 20) in any of the four major North American sports, or played in an MLB game.
Positive results followed. After an eight-game stint in the Florida Complex League, Nimmala returned to the Class-A Dunedin Blue Jays on June 27 looking like a different player. He slugged six homers, four doubles and three triples with an .880 OPS in July. The following month, he led the FSL with 29 hits and 53 total bases.
Nimmala’s end-of-season stats don’t jump off the page. He finished the year hitting .232 with a .790 OPS. But it was his ability to drastically alter his results in-season that has a lot of people inside the Jays organization excited about his future.
He is not yet old enough to drink, but he has already proven he can make adjustments and overcome failure. Those attributes are critical to having a lengthy career in the majors, where players are constantly tinkering and looking for a new edge.
“It’s easy to say, ‘OK, this isn’t working, but it’s going to work, and I’m good for a reason,’ ” said Jays manager John Schneider, who has kept tabs on Nimmala’s progress. “I give him a lot of credit for sticking with it and battling through adversity. That’s going to come for the rest of his career. You kind of like seeing that when you have a young kid who is talented.”
The Jays haven’t enjoyed much success in the draft since general manager Ross Atkins and president Mark Shapiro took over prior to the 2016 season. Their list of failed first-round picks includes T.J. Zeuch, Logan Warmoth and Jordan Groshans, and it might have included Gunnar Hoglund and Austin Martin had they not been dealt elsewhere before their values cratered.
The Jays system was ranked 24th of 30 entering the year, and that was before injuries to key prospects.
The only success story in the first round has been AlekÌý²Ñ²¹²Ô´Ç²¹³ó, and the value he provided was almost entirely limited to the 2021-22 seasons. Nimmala has a chance to break the mould and become the first homegrown star the Jays have produced since international signee Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and 2016 second-round pick Bo Bichette, both of whom debuted in 2019.
Nimmala, who isn’t expected to be big-league ready until at least late in the 2026 season, has time to figure things out. His first full minor-league season was a positive step, especially because he had to work so hard to make it a success.
“Dealing with adversity is huge, especially in baseball,” Nimmala said while leaving the impression that he is wise beyond his years. “It’s called a game of failure for a reason. Dealing with adversity early, it’s just going to help any time I do find myself in the same situation.
“I know how to get out of it, what I can do to help the team, and just learn from my past experiences. I’m very happy that it happened to me early. They’re building blocks going forward.”
There will be a lot more hurdles to overcome in the future, too. If Nimmala handles them anything like this year, he’s going to be just fine.
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