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.
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.