Just when Brad Nelson thought he had settled back at first base, his manager wants to see him play the outfield.

After Nelson went untested in his first Spring Training start in left field on Monday, manager Ken Macha said he’s considering the one-time top prospect for one of the backup outfield spots. Nelson continued to impress at the plate, hitting an RBI single and drawing a walk in the Brewers’ 4-3 loss to the Padres, and he’s hitting .571 with four walks in four spring games.

Chris Duffy is “kind of the front-runner right now” for a job, Macha said, while emphasizing that the Brewers are only six games into Spring Training and everything could change. That still leaves an opening for Nelson.

“If we’re going to keep two extra outfielders, we’re going to have to see what ‘Nellie’ can do,” Macha said. “He’s been impressive. Almost every at-bat is a long-pitch-count at-bat. He’s not afraid to take a walk. His strike-zone knowledge is pretty good. He stays on the ball.”

Once considered Milwaukee’s top prospect, Nelson was drafted as a first baseman, but the club has shuffled him around. Nelson moved to third base and then to the outfield before moving back to first last season for Triple-A Nashville. He hit .286 with 18 home runs and 78 RBIs in 132 games to earn a September callup, then won a spot on the Brewers’ postseason roster.

The Brewers have six outfielders in camp, including starters Ryan Braun, Mike Cameron and Corey Hart. Tony Gwynn Jr. is on the 40-man roster and out of Minor League options, but he’s been slowed by a shoulder injury that required an MRI scan on Monday.

Non-roster invitees Duffy and Trot Nixon are also in the mix. Duffy was off Monday, but he’s hitting .286 in four games and is a quality defensive center fielder who can also play the corners. Nixon is more of a corner man, but Macha started him in center field on Monday, and Nixon easily caught the only ball hit in his direction.

At the plate, Nixon continued to struggle. He went 0-for-2 with a walk against San Diego and is 0-for-12 in the Cactus League.

“They’ve been throwing him a lot of offspeed pitches, and he’s out in front of them, trying to pull,” Macha said. “I told Dale [Sveum, the hitting coach] that it would be nice to see him have a little bit of an up-the-middle approach.”

All four of the candidates for reserve spots bat left-handed. Macha will have plenty of opportunities to see them in action with Braun going to the World Baseball Classic and Gwynn sidelined.

Hookscenter.com wire report.