Blue Jays swing big with 20th pick, bet on 17-year-old Nimmala's upside

SEATTLE – There is volatility inherent to every pick in the baseball draft, usually more so for high school players than collegians, for younger players than older ones, which is why the Toronto Blue Jays’ selection of prep shortstop Arjun Nimmala at No. 20 overall is so intriguing. 

At 17, he’s one of the youngest players eligible this year, which can layer in another element of variance on the spectrum of possibility for the product of Strawberry Crest High School just outside of Tampa. 

But Nimmala’s proximity to the club’s Player Development Complex in Dunedin, Fla., meant the team’s scouts could gather a deep volume of looks at his at-bats. They met with him three times, in the summer, fall and spring, and he visited the club’s facility. They were able to closely monitor how “as he’s added strength to his wiry frame (and) his tools have taken a jump,” as Baseball America wrote in its scouting report on him.

And those tools sold them on taking a big swing with their first-round pick, a selection made all the more important this year because the Blue Jays forfeited their second-rounder for the free-agent signing of Chris Bassitt. 

Impact players usually come early in the draft, this was their best chance to get one and rather than playing it safe, they swung big.

“It's just the overall tool package combined with the age and overall upside of the player,” Blue Jays amateur scouting director Shane Farrell said shortly after making the selection. “The power, the arm strength, the actions defensively, playing at a premium position, that all makes him a really exciting player and somebody I'm really, really happy to get into the farm system.”

While signability can be a concern with prep players, that doesn’t sound like it will be a problem with Nimmala, a Florida State commit. Farrell said simply that, “we feel pretty good, we've built a strong relationship with Arjun and we're excited to get him to Dunedin,” a strong indicator both sides understand what an agreement is going to look like.

Nimmala, projected as a possibility for multiple teams in the 10-20 range, wasn’t a lock to get to them, but a first round that didn’t break to projections started right at 1-1, when the Pittsburgh Pirates, linked to Florida outfielder Wyatt Langford, ended up taking Louisiana State right-hander Paul Skenes, and that reverberated all the way down.

"There's always some adjusting as the draft goes along as players and signability is changing throughout the round,” said Farrell. “We were prepared and in a good position to make the pick.”

Adding to the interest around Nimmala is his compelling backstory and his goal of becoming the first player of Indian descent to reach the majors, having played lots of cricket during his younger years on family trips to visit relatives in Vijayawada, a city in the country’s south-east.

The Blue Jays, of course, are interested in his ability on a baseball field, and front and centre is what Baseball America described as “shockingly good raw power” he showed “throughout the summer in batting practice for a player of his current size and physicality, with quick-twitch hands and a whippy bat that allow him to make impressive impact now, with plus raw power a possibility as he fills out.”

Given his age, that may take time to fully show through and the fact that he’ll be nearly a year younger than some of his fellow draftees “is really something we have to keep in mind throughout his development path,” said Farrell. 

“He's going to be a little bit behind in terms of maturity than others he's going to be walking into this draft class with. It's going to be something we'll have to consider as far as physical development and things like that. But we don't foresee any challenges.”

Farrell suggested that Nimmala could start in the Florida Complex League once he signs and the work then will begin for a player with big goals, and a team needing more potential impact like his in its farm system.