Top Angels prospect Arjun Nimmala homered for the third straight game as Double-A Rocket City clinched its first trip to the Southern League Championship Series.
Los Angeles Angels top prospect Arjun Nimmala is saving some of his best baseball for the postseason.
Nimmala homered for the third consecutive game Thursday night as the Double-A Rocket City Trash Pandas defeated the Knoxville Smokies 13-3 to advance to the Southern League Championship Series for the first time in franchise history.
The 20-year-old shortstop's latest home run came in the fourth inning and helped Rocket City complete a two-game sweep of Knoxville.
It continued a remarkable power surge for the player the Angels acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays at the trade deadline.
Nimmala has now homered in three straight games, including both games of the Southern League North Division Series. He has also gone deep five times in his past five games and nine times in 13 games during September, according to MLB.com's Jesse Borek.
His latest blast was part of another big offensive night for Rocket City.
The Trash Pandas pounded out 13 runs and three home runs on their way to the 10-run victory. Catcher Jacob Cozart, another prospect acquired by the Angels at the trade deadline, went 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs.
Nimmala's postseason performance comes after he homered in Rocket City's 9-2 victory in Game 1 on Tuesday.
That home run followed a difficult start to his first Double-A postseason game, when Nimmala struck out twice and had a potential hit taken away before going deep in the eighth inning. He finished 2-for-5 in the victory.
Nimmala and pitcher Tyler Bremner both starred in their Double-A postseason debuts, with Bremner allowing three hits over five innings to earn the victory.
The Angels acquired Nimmala from Toronto as the centerpiece of the package for starting pitcher José Soriano at the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
Nimmala quickly established himself as the top prospect in the Angels' revamped farm system. MLB Pipeline currently ranks him as Los Angeles' No. 1 prospect and one of the top shortstop prospects in baseball.
The former first-round pick's arrival also coincided with Rocket City's late-season push.
Nimmala dealt with injuries during a season in which he played at multiple minor-league stops. Still, his power has been hard to miss since settling into the Angels organization.
Now that surge has helped Rocket City make some history of its own.
The Trash Pandas had never reached the Southern League Championship Series since the franchise began play in 2021. They are also the first Angels Double-A affiliate to reach a championship series since the Arkansas Travelers in 2013, according to MLB.com.
An Angels Double-A affiliate hasn't won a league championship since Arkansas captured the Texas League title in 2008.
Rocket City will get an opportunity to end that drought against the Biloxi Shuckers in the best-of-three Southern League Championship Series.
For Nimmala, the postseason run also extends what has become an eventful first season in the Angels organization.
He's scheduled to continue playing after Rocket City's season ends by joining the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League.
Before that happens, the Angels' top prospect has an opportunity to add a championship to a September in which he has already demonstrated plenty of the power that made him the centerpiece of one of Los Angeles' biggest deadline deals.
