You might have to return to the 2019 offseason to find a position player prospect with the raw ability and upside of Arjun Nimmala, at least within the Blue Jays farm system. Of course, that was the year the Blue Jays had Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette in their system, ranking #1 and #11 in baseball per MLB Pipeline, respectively.

Although Nimmala is widely viewed as the Blue Jays’ top prospect, it’s with the caveat that the team’s system is generally ranked in the bottom third of the major leagues. The 19-year old shortstop ranks 86th overall on MLB Pipeline’s top 100, indicating that he may still have a ways to go to be viewed as a truly elite prospect. However, given his performance in 2024 and projected athlesticsm, it may not be long before he vaults up prospect lists.

The Blue Jays made the 17-year old their first round pick (20th overall) in 2023 after he graduated a year early from Strawberry Crest High School in Florida. For a high school player that was a year younger than his peers, it’s no surprise that the six-foot-one’s game was raw and likely in need of several years of development before even getting a sniff of the active roster.

The 2024 campaign was the tale of two seasons for the Tampa, Florida born infielder. He struggled to start with year with single-A Dunedin, a signficant test for the infielder, before going back to the team’s complex in Dunedin and tinkering with his swing and approach. The work with the coaching staff clearly paid off, returning to Dunedin and hitting 13 homers with a .265/.331/.564 slash line over 53 games to close out the year. Every young player likely enters pro ball having never never endured a long string of failure before in the sport. It was impressive to see Nimmala turn his season around after going through his struggles so early on in his career.

At the time of this writing, Nimmala is still in major league camp with the team, and has made his way into four spring training games. He has collected two hits in seven at bats, one of which was a towering home run that gave Blue Jays fans a glimpse at what they could expect in the upcoming years:

With no shot at making the Blue Jays opening day roster this spring, it’s understandable that his playing time has been limited. What may be more of a benefit for the young shortstop is the chance to get acclimated with the big league club’s coaching staff and players before the 2025 season begins. Nimmala will be featured on the Blue Jays’ Spring Breakout roster for the second straight year, going head to head with Minnesota Twins’ prospects at 1:07 EST on Saturday, March 15th.

After his success to close out the year with Dunedin, it’s fair to wonder whether the Jays will give him the challenge of starting off the season with high-A Vancouver. You could make an argument for returning him to Dunedin to start the season and bringing him up once his bat gets hot. Whenever he does make it to Canada’s only minor league team, his debut may be one of the most anticipated of any Canadians player since the affiliate moved from Rookie Ball to a high-A affiliate in 2020.

Looking down the road, Nimmala has the chance to be a unique star in Toronto based on his background. In the 2023 draft, he became the first Indian-American player to be drafted in the first round, setting himself up to become the first player of Indian decent to play in the Major Leagues. For a multicultural melting pot like Toronto, having a trailblazer like Nimmala as one of the team’s stars opens up a wealth of marketing opportunities and could generate interest in the sport amongst minorities in the city.

For a player as young as Nimmala, he appears to be a natural with a microphone in his hand, already starring in a documentary about his journey last year called Indian Baseball Dreams. To his credit, he understands the potential impact that he could have on young people and seems motivated to become a role model for years to come. There’s plenty about the player to be excited about, but the personality and maturity has him poised to become the face of the franchise some day soon.