Padres pitcher Jacob Nix outrighted to AAA after rough 2019

The San Diego Padres announced on Tuesday that right-handed pitcher Jacob Nix had been outrighted to Triple-A El Paso.

On November 4 the San Diego Padres designated Jacob Nix for assignment to move him off the 40-man roster and had been awaiting his ultimate destination since.

As of now, he’s back in the Padres’ organization after what was a difficult 2019 season on and off the field.

The former third-round pick by the San Diego Padres in the 2015 MLB Draft made his debut in 2018 but gave up 33 earned runs in 42.1 innings making 9 starts.

Before that, he had been lights out in the minors with a 1.84 ERA combined in Double-A and Triple-A in 2018.

But the 2019 season was a rough one for Nix as he battled an elbow injury that sidelined him for two months to start the season.

When he was on the field in 2019 he was really good with a 1.85 ERA in 6 starts across three levels with 29 strikeouts in 24.1 innings.

And then in October he was arrested for criminal trespassing as the resident of the house kicked him and shot him with a stun gun.

Nix was in Arizona at the time where he was participating in the Arizona Fall League. He was removed from the roster after making one start in which he gave up 1 earned run on 5 hits over 2.2 innings with 3 strikeouts and a walk.

Nix is still listed as the Padres’ 28th best overall prospect according to MLB.com.

Nix was in the mix to make the Padres starting rotation to open up the 2019 season but the UCL injury ended any chance of that happening.

With San Diego in the market this offseason to find a couple of starters, Nix is obvious trade bait or at the very least, a depth piece.

This is certainly a sad situation for Nix and it’s unclear what his future will look like with the San Diego Padres.