Jacob Nix took a significant step forward Wednesday night.
In fact, more efforts like the seven punchouts he dialed up in his first rehab start at high Single-A Lake Elsinore could force his way into the Padres’ big league plans.
“If he earns it,” Padres manager Andy Green said earlier Wednesday, “he could easily be back here at some in time in the season. That will be dictated by how he throws in his rehab. Hopefully he continues to progress.”
So far, so good.
The 23-year-old right-hander allowed only an unearned run in 4 1/3 innings in his third rehab start and first since he was shifted out of the rookie-level Arizona League (1.