Arjun Nimmala’s week in the Arizona Fall League turned into something historic on Thursday, and the Los Angeles Angels prospect did it by snapping out of a rough patch in a big way.
Nimmala went 5-for-7 as the Mesa Solar Sox blasted the Salt River Rafters 21-5 in Talking Stick, according to Sam Dykstra of MLB.com. The shortstop piled up a homer, a double, three runs scored, two RBIs and a stolen base in the rout, and his five hits established an AFL record. In a league built for development, the bar for offensive records tends to move fast.
That outburst came right after a seven-game skid that had dragged his numbers down. Over that stretch, Nimmala hit just 2-for-24 and struck out 10 times, though Dykstra noted he also drew seven walks. It was the kind of swingy run that comes with AFL baseball, where prospects can look like world-beaters one week and hit a wall the next.
Nimmala said, “Every great player goes through stretches, bad stretches, multiple times within a year.”
The production Thursday pushed his OPS back up to .980, and his loud contact backed up the stat line. One single shot to left field at 109.7 mph, while his homer traveled 417 feet. Dykstra also reported that five of his seven balls in play came off the bat at 94.8 mph or harder.
Nimmala has made a point of talking up his offensive upside as an infielder, and the confidence shows up in the way he plays. He also turned in a strong Double-A stint with the Rocket City Trash Pandas, hitting .260/.389/.577 over 27 games while helping the club win the Southern League championship, the first in team history. He was a key acquisition for the Angels when they cleaned house at the trade deadline.
What happens next for him, and for the organization around him, is still unsettled. Nimmala is the kind of prospect who might have been pushed to the majors under the Arte Moreno ownership regime, but the Angels are bringing in a new farm director from outside the organization, along with a new GM and manager. A different philosophy is on the way, but how it plays out is anybody’s guess.
Angels fans are hoping the process moves fast enough for the club to make changes at the GM meetings beginning Nov. 9, though that remains unclear too. Plenty of teams are in limbo, but the Halos may have the foggiest situation in baseball right now.
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