Arjun Nimmala to make spring training debut Friday for Blue Jays

The future of the Toronto Blue Jays will get his first chance to play with the team's present on Friday.

Toronto Blue Jays' top prospect Arjun Nimmala will get a chance to make his (spring training) MLB debut Friday when the Blue Jays take on the Yankees in a split-squad game. Nimmala will be taking the spot of Leo Jiménez, who is under the weather.

Nimmala, who recently was ranked as the No. 82 prospect in baseball by FanGraphs, was the No. 20 pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. He had an .895 OPS in the final 52 games he played at Single-A last season. He has yet to play above High-A.

Here's how everything else will look for the Blue Jays in their spring matchup against the Yankees. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. The game will be available to stream on Sportsnet.

Probable starting pitchers

Jake Bloss (0-0, 10.80 ERA) vs. Gerrit Cole

The Blue Jays will also get a look at their future on the mound in the form of Bloss, who came in at No. 66 in FanGraphs' aforementioned list of prospects. Bloss was acquired from the Astros at the trade deadline last year in exchange for Yusei Kikuchi, and has yet to appear in MLB for the Blue Jays.

He allowed nine runs in 11 2/3 MLB innings with the Astros prior to the trade.

Cole will be making his spring debut after he only made 17 starts last season due to injury. Cole missed the first 75 games of last season due to right elbow inflammation that flared up during spring training, but he was still able to tally a 3.41 ERA in 95 innings.

That came a year after he led the American League in ERA (2.63), starts (33) and innings (209) en route to a Cy Young win. Cole is in the fifth year of his nine year contract with the Yankees and he has a career 2.75 ERA in 111 career innings against the Blue Jays.

Toronto Blue Jays starting lineup, February 28

• 1. CF Joey Loperfido
• 2. RF Anthony Santander
• 3. 1B Will Wagner
• 4. 3B Addison Barger
• 5. 2B Orelvis Martinez
• 6. LF Alan Roden
• 7. C Tyler Heineman
• 8. SS Arjun Nimmala
• 9. DH RJ Schreck

New York Yankees starting lineup, February 28

• 1. C Austin Wells
• 2. 1B Paul Goldschmidt
• 3. RF Cody Bellinger
• 4. 3B Oswaldo Cabrera
• 5. LF Pablo Reyes
• 6. CF Spencer Jones
• 7. SS Oswald Peraza
• 8. 2B Andrew Velazquez
• 9. DH Alex Jackson

Along with Nimmala making his spring debut with the Blue Jays, Santander will also be getting his first at-bats with the Blue Jays after he worked through his visa issue. Santander will likely hit second or third for the Blue Jays this season, so it's no surprise to see him hit in the second spot in the lineup today.

Nimmala's batting at the bottom of the order so it's not guaranteed that he'll get a chance to face off against Cole, but that will be a must-see at-bat if they gend up facing off.