While Nimmala, currently with the Blue Jays\u2019 high-A affiliate Vancouver Canadians, continues to ascend the minor leagues, MLB is doing extensive outreach in India by putting together tournaments for children and taking baseball programs to schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to try to introduce the sport to as many kids as possible,\u201d Chris Marinak, MLB\u2019s chief operations and strategy officer, told NBC News. \u201cThat\u2019s the foot in the door. That\u2019s the way that you educate kids on the game \u2014 you get kids to fall in love with it, and they become fans for the rest of their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the goal is to take baseball to India both on the fields and inside homes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re focusing on getting our MLB games on broadcast and streaming,\u201d Marinak said. \u201cWe have two partners in India right now that are putting games live for the postseason and the regular season, and we\u2019re seeing great interest from fans around consumption.\u201d<\/p>\n
MLB opened an office in India in 2019 and since 2021 has hosted the MLB Cup, a tournament for amateur youth teams across the country. <\/p>\n
Nimmala traveled to India in 2023 to see the initiatives the league was producing and to help grow the game in the country where much of his family still lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be able to go there and not only see that baseball is a part of India, as well, but just also trying to make it bigger, I think that makes me super proud,\u201d Nimmala said. \u201cKnowing that I have a possibility of doing that and just seeing how much baseball is played in India already, I thought was very cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked how big baseball can be in India, a country with 1.46 billion people, Marinak said MLB has high goals.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have a billion fans that are watching cricket, it creates a real opportunity to grow the sport,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we can get baseball to the scale of cricket, it would be a huge penetration into that market. It would look a lot like what you see in Japan [and the] United States. It can be done.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Minnesota](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/250721-Dunedin-Fl-Arjun-Nimmala-toronto-blue-jays-ac-658p-5e6dd5.jpg\")
Arjun Nimmala of the Toronto Blue Jays reaches second base on a throwing error against the Minnesota Twins in a spring training game in Dunedin, Fla., on March 15.Mike Carlson \/ MLB Photos via Getty Images file<\/p>\n
Nimmala says the goal remains to make the major leagues, though that could take multiple years because of his age and experience. His 17 home runs last year led all players ages 18 or younger, and after some early-season struggles, he turned up his production in the second half. <\/p>\n
From June 27 on, Nimmala hit .265\/.331\/.564 with 13 homers over his final 53 games.<\/p>\n