As the No. 1 prospect for the Toronto Blue Jays, he’s been figuring out what it takes to be a professional athlete while playing shortstop for the team’s High-A affiliate, the Vancouver Canadians.

As a 19-year-old living more than 5,000 kilometres away from his parents’ home in Valrico, Fla., he’s been figuring out how to take care of himself.

“There was a little bit of an adjustment period, learning how to do things on my own,” Nimmala said with a smile.

Cooking was one hurdle the teen had to overcome. In recent months, he’s learned how to make a few staples, including fried rice.

A more intangible hurdle has been learning how to stay locked in on the day-to-day amid a whirlwind of speculation and excitement about his future. Staying focused isn’t easy, Nimmala said.

“It’s definitely hard. It’s definitely something that you have to consistently make an effort for,” he said. “You could definitely get lost in what people are saying, stats, all that stuff. And for an athlete, for a baseball player, those aren’t the best things to be looking at.

“The better I can stay focused on what I can do in the present, the better I’ll be on the field as well.”

Few Canadians players feel the glare of the spotlight the way Nimmala has this season.

At No. 46 on the MLB’s list of the 100 top prospects, it’s not only the shortstop’s performance on the field that has grabbed headlines, but his story.

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Nimmala’s parents immigrated from India to the U.S. before he was born, and when Toronto picked the teen 20th overall at the 2023 draft, it marked the first time an MLB team selected a first-generation Indian player in the first round.

“Going into it, I’ve always just tried to be the best player I can be and impact the team in the best way,” he said. “But over time, my family and I, we’ve learned a lot of what it means to become the first or a trailblazer in some sort of way. For us, it’s just making people proud while also getting better on the baseball field.”

After spending last season with the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays in the Florida State League, Nimmala has shown major potential since moving up to Vancouver this year.

The six-foot-one, 170-pound athlete boasts a .232 batting average across 84 games, is tied for most runs on the team (55) and slots in at second for most home runs (11).

June was a stellar month for the Canadians, who chalked up a franchise-record 11-straight wins, with Nimmala contributing big hits in several games, including Vancouver’s 8-4 victory over the Spokane Indians on June 11 when he blasted a three-run homer into the bullpen.

Solid showings have been harder to come by in recent weeks, though. And that’s part of the learning process, too, Nimmala said.

“I think we all know that recently, I haven’t been the same or as good of a player as I was earlier this season. And that’s just part of baseball. But it’s also that I need to find ways to make adjustments and be better on the field as well,” he said.

“I think that comes with more experience and learning who I am, what guys are going to do against me. It’s a lot of the little things that you can overlook that really make players really good.”

During both his success and his struggles, Nimmala turns back to his family.

They’re home in Florida, where his dad, Balu Nimmala, stays up late to keep tabs on his son’s play.

“He watches the games, even though it’s like one o’clock back there. I’m like ‘Bro, you should go to sleep,'” Nimmala said with another broad smile.

“But he’s like, ‘Just keep doing what you’re doing, it’s working, whether you’re getting the results or not. Just trust who you are, what type of player you are, and just do things right.’ So listening to him and knowing what I need to do are things that help me.”

With just over a month left in the Northwest League’s regular season, the Canadians are still looking to clinch a playoff spot. And Nimmala is still learning how to be a better baseball player, a better professional athlete.

Those lessons only come with time, he said.

“I think one of the biggest things in growth, at least in baseball, is just experience. Whether it’s taking more reps or more pitches, there’s only so much you can learn from hitting (batting practice) and things like that. The real test is what you do out there,” said the highly touted prospect.

“It’s in these very high-pressure situations, especially when we’re trying to win and clinch and go out there and make playoffs, I think that’s where you’re going to get better.”

For Nimmala, the learning has just begun.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 25, 2025.

The five members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team who were acquitted Thursday of sexual assault are “ineligible” to play in the NHL as it reviews the judge’s findings, the league says.

Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote were found not guilty of all charges after a high-profile trial centred on an alleged group sexual encounter in London, Ont., in 2018, in which the players were accused of non-consensual sex.

“The allegations made in this case, even if not determined to have been criminal, were very disturbing and the behavior at issue was unacceptable,” the NHL said in a statement to Global News.

“We will be reviewing and considering the judge’s findings. While we conduct that analysis and determine next steps, the players charged in this case are ineligible to play in the League.”

In response, the National Hockey League Players’ Association said ruling the players ineligible while the NHL further evaluates is inconsistent with the league and players’ union’s collective bargaining agreement.

“Dillon Dubé, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart, and Michael McLeod were acquitted of all charges by Justice Carroccia of the Ontario Superior Court,” the NHLPA’s statement read. “After missing more than a full season of their respective NHL careers, they should now have the opportunity to return to work. The NHL’s declaration that the Players are ‘ineligible’ to play pending its further analysis of the Court’s findings is inconsistent with the discipline procedures set forth in the CBA.

“We are addressing this dispute with the League and will have no further comment at this time.​”

McLeod, Hart, Dubé and Foote were active NHL players at the time of their 2024 arrests, which came days after all four players were granted leave from their clubs.

Formenton, an Ottawa Senators draft pick, has not played in the NHL since 2022. He last played with the Swiss club HC Ambri-Piotta.

0:49 All 5 former World Junior players found not guilty in high-profile sex assault trial

The five men had been on trial since late April — accused of engaging in non-consensual group sex with a then-20-year-old woman in June 2018. All five men pleaded not guilty to sexual assault; McLeod also pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of being a party to the offence of sexual assault.

“In this case, I have found actual consent not vitiated by fear. I do not find the evidence of E.M. to be either credible or reliable,” Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia said of the female complainant, known as E.M. in court documents as her identity is protected under a standard publication ban.

“With respect to the charges before this court, having found that I cannot rely upon the evidence of E.M. and then considering the evidence in this trial on the whole, I conclude the Crown can not meet its onus on any of the counts before me.”

Court heard the team was in London for events marking its gold-medal performance at that year’s championship, and that the complainant was out with friends when they met at a downtown bar on June 18, 2018.

After being with McLeod and his teammates at the bar, E.M. would go on to have consensual sex with McLeod in his room in the early morning hours of June 19. Court has heard that E.M., who testified she was drunk and not of clear mind, was in the washroom after she had sex with McLeod and came out to a group of men in the room allegedly invited by McLeod in the group chat.

It was then that the Crown alleged several sexual acts took place without E.M.’s consent, an argument Carroccia rejected in her ruling Thursday.

2:18 NHL players on leave and facing sex assault charges still being paid

Hart, formerly of the Philadelphia Flyers; McLeod and Foote, formerly of the New Jersey Devils; and Dubé, formerly of the Calgary Flames were not re-signed by their respective teams last year after they were charged. Up until that point, they were still being paid while they were on leave to defend themselves against the charges.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in February 2024 after the charges were filed in court that the league would not consider any punishment against the four players until the conclusion of judicial proceedings.

“I have repeatedly used the words ‘abhorrent, reprehensible, horrific and unacceptable’ to describe the alleged behaviors. And those words continue to apply,” he said at the time.

—With files from Global’s Aaron D’Andrea and Sean O’Shea, and the Canadian Press

TORONTO – The Toronto Blue Jays made a strong case for old school baseball in their series win over the long-ball loving New York Yankees.

Bo Bichette’s two-run homer capped off a wild victory as Toronto held on for an 8-4 win over the visiting Yankees on Wednesday. The Blue Jays’ other six runs came from smart baserunning, heads-up plays, and forcing New York into a handful of errors.

“Geez, we can score runs in so many different ways,” said Ernie Clement, who went 2 for 4 at the plate, including a triple, scoring a run and driving in another. “Pitching has been a common theme for the last few years. Those guys just give us a chance to win every single night.

“Now we’re rounding it out, we’ve got a little offence to go along with it. I think we really have a team identity. Whether that’s old school baseball or just playing the game the right way, I don’t know.”

Toronto benefited from New York’s four errors and other fielding miscues, eking out runs on walks, dropped balls, wild pitches, and overthrows. Bichette’s two-run blast — his 13th home run of the year — was the Blue Jays’ cleanest score of the game as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had led off the inning with a double.

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Clement believes that Toronto’s hard-nosed approach put pressure on the Yankees’ fielders to play defence faster, leading to their handful of mistakes.

“They know we play the game hard,” said Clement. “There’s no doubt that they pick their heads up (after fielding the ball) and we’re halfway to first base, head down, running hard.

“As a fielder, that puts all the pressure in the world on you. You’ve got to be clean. If you bobble the ball at all, I mean, we’re safe.”

The Blue Jays and Yankees have played seven games at Rogers Centre in the past two weeks, with Toronto going 6-1 to take a four-game lead in the American League East, lock up the season series and therefore the tiebreaker should the two teams end the year with identical records.

“In these two series, we’ve given them too many outs and it’s cost us,” said New York manager Aaron Boone. “You can’t give good teams extra outs.

“And, again, that’s what we’ve done in these two series.”

Chris Bassitt (11-4) was solid for 7 1/3 innings, striking out eight and allowing four runs — three earned — on three hits and no walks. Blue Jays relievers Justin Bruihl and Yariel Rodriguez preserved the win.

“Every single day, they’re working their absolute butts off, and then they go out there and they’re giving effort,” said Bassitt of Toronto’s positions players. “Extremely old school, I would say.

“If you know me, I’m a fan of old school. I love this team.”

By contrast, New York lives and dies by the long ball.

All four of the Yankees runs came from homers on Wednesday. New York entered the game with a Major League Baseball-best 162 home runs, five more than the Los Angeles Dodgers. Shohei Ohtani had L.A.’s one homer in its 4-3 win over the Minnesota Twins earlier Wednesday.

The Blue Jays travel to Detroit for a four-game series starting Thursday.

The Central-leading Tigers play a more scrappy style of baseball similar to Toronto and it shows in their record. The Blue Jays (60-42) are tied with the West-leading Houston Astros for the best record in the American League, with Detroit a half-game behind them.

“We’re going to play a team that does the exact same thing in Detroit, so you have to be ready for it,” said Toronto manager John Schneider. “This game is hard, you know what I mean? This game is hard.

“I think that every team is built a little bit differently, so we really pride ourselves on taking care of the baseball.”

Eric Lauer (5-2) will take the mound for the Blue Jays in Detroit. Reese Olson (4-3) gets the start for the Tigers (60-43).

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 23, 2025.