Arjun Nimmala Debuts With Toronto Blue Jays Becoming First Indian American to Play in an MLB Game
- The 17-year-old shortstop went 1-3 with a single and a walk, while also striking out once.
Arjun Nimmala became the first Indian American to play in a Major League Baseball game. The 17-year-old made his professional debut last week with the Toronto Blue Jays on Aug. 3. The shortstop went “1-3 with a single and a walk, while also striking out once,” according to bluejaysnation.com, the team’s official website. “The shortstop also committed his first professional error, but turned a double play with ninth-rounder Sam Shaw,” the website added.
Nimmala was selected with the 20th overall pick in last month’s draft. He was signed to “a surprising under-slot deal worth $3,000,000, which is $746,000 less than the slot value,’” the website said.
MLB said Nimmala “joins the Blue Jays at an important time for this club’s farm system. In the coming weeks — and surely the coming two or three years — the Blue Jays will lean on their prospect depth in trades as they look to win with their talented core.”
The young player spent the past four seasons playing at Strawberry Crest High School in Dover, Florida. He finished the 2023 season with 35 hits and 29 runs batted in across 25 games, according to mlb.com. He hit .382 with 22 doubles, three triples, and nine home runs across 77 career games at the high school level, the league website added.
While Nimmala is the first Indian American teenager drafted in the first round and the first to play in an MLB game, Kumar Rocker was the first in both the 2021 and 2022 drafts. The 23-year-old son of a football coach and an Indian American mother, Rocker was picked by the Texas Rangers last year. In 2021, he was the first-round pick of the New York Mets but went unsigned due to injury concerns. However, will reportedly miss the entire season and likely most of 2024., because of an ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) reconstruction colloquially known as Tommy John surgery.
He did not play in an MLB game – MLB is the major leagues. He played in a minor league game at the lowest level of the minor leagues. He is at least 5 years away from stepping foot on an MLB field.