Nick Solak

Nicholas Blake Solak (born January 11, 1995) is an American professional baseball second baseman and outfielder for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Nick Solak
Solak with the Staten Island Yankees in 2016
Texas Rangers – No. 15
Second baseman / Outfielder
Born: (1995-01-11) January 11, 1995
Woodridge, Illinois
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
August 20, 2019, for the Texas Rangers
MLB statistics
(through 2020 season)
Batting average.277
Home runs7
Runs batted in40
Teams

Career

Amateur career

Solak graduated from Naperville North High School in Naperville, Illinois.[1] He enrolled at the University of Louisville and played college baseball for the Louisville Cardinals.[2][3][4] During the summer of 2015, he played for the Bourne Braves of the Cape Cod League.[5] At Louisville, Solak played in 159 games over three seasons (2014-2016) for the Cardinals and earned College Freshman All-American honors in 2014[6] and College All-American honors as a Junior in 2016.[7] Solak finished his collegiate career with a slash line of .346/.442/.484 (Batting Average / On-Base % / Slugging %) to go along with 10 HR, 94 RBI, 36 SB, and a .926 OPS (On-Base % + Slugging %).[8]

New York Yankees

The New York Yankees selected Solak in the second round of the 2016 MLB draft,[9] and signed him for a $950,000 signing bonus.[10] He made his professional debut with the Staten Island Yankees.[11] He finished the 2016 season with a .321 batting average and 3 homers.[12] In 2017, Solak maintained a batting average over .300 the entire season for the Tampa Yankees, hitting 10 home runs with 44 RBIs and 13 stolen bases before getting promoted to the Trenton Thunder on August 1, where he finished the season slashing .286/.344/429.[12]

Tampa Bay Rays

On February 18, 2018, the Yankees sent Solak to the Tampa Bay Rays in a three-team trade, in which the Yankees acquired Brandon Drury from the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Diamondbacks acquired Steven Souza from the Tampa Bay Rays and Taylor Widener from the Yankees, and the Rays acquired Anthony Banda, Colin Poche, and Sam McWilliams from the Diamondbacks.[13] He spent the 2018 season with the Montgomery Biscuits. After batting .282 with 19 home runs, 76 RBIs, and 21 stolen bases in 126 games,[12] Solak was named Montgomery's MVP.[14]

Solak began 2019 with the Durham Bulls,[15] hitting .266/.350/.485/.835 with 17 home runs and 47 RBI in 301 at-bats.[16]

Texas Rangers

On July 13, 2019, Solak was traded to the Texas Rangers in exchange for Peter Fairbanks.[17] He was assigned to the Nashville Sounds of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League.[16]

On August 20, 2019, the Rangers selected Solak's contract and promoted him to the major leagues.[18] He made his major league debut that day in a double-header versus the Los Angeles Angels, recording his first career hit off Andrew Heaney and first career home run off Jaime Barría.[19][20] Solak finished the 2019 season hitting .293/.393/.491 with 5 home runs and 17 RBI over 33 games for Texas. He had the fastest sprint speed of all major league designated hitters, at 28.7 feet/second.[21] In 2020, he hit .268 with 2 home runs and 23 RBI.

References
  1. Blake Baumgartner (August 27, 2019). "'It was an absolutely amazing day': Naperville North's Nick Solak stars in debut with Texas Rangers". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  2. Tim Sullivan (June 2, 2016). "Sullivan - Solak better than (.377) average". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  3. Jef Greer (April 28, 2016). "U of L's Solak relieved to return from injury". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
  4. Jeff Greer (June 4, 2015). "Mom knows best for U of L's Nick Solak". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  5. "Cape League All-Star, Home Run selections released". capecodbaseball.org. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  6. "2nd Team College Freshman All-American History - The Baseball Cube". www.thebaseballcube.com. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
  7. "3rd Team College All-American History - The Baseball Cube". www.thebaseballcube.com. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
  8. "Nick Solak College, Amateur, Minor & Winter Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
  9. Jeff Greer (June 9, 2016). "Louisville's Solak picked 62nd in MLB Draft". The Courier-Journal.
  10. "2016 Draft: Signing and Bonus Tracker". MLB.com. June 15, 2016. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  11. Joshua Welge (June 14, 2016). "Naperville North grad Nick Solak wastes no time signing with New York Yankees". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
  12. "Nick Solak Player Page". MLB.com. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  13. Gilbert, Steve (May 24, 2018). "D-backs, Yankees, Rays make three-team trade". MLB.com. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  14. Tampa Bay Rays (September 28, 2018). "Rays announce 2018 Minor League award winners". MLB.com. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  15. Austin Reimann (April 1, 2019). "Tampa Bay Rays: Nick Solak among those named to AAA roster". Fansided. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  16. T.R. Sullivan (July 13, 2019). "Rangers acquire Minor League 2B for Fairbanks". MLB.com. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  17. Adam J. Morris (July 13, 2019). "Texas Rangers trade Peter Fairbanks to Tampa Bay Rays for Nick Solak". Lone Star Ball. SB Nation. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  18. Jeff Wilson (August 20, 2019). "Rangers' late win comes at a cost as Mazara hits IL. Who is taking his roster spot?". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  19. Levi Weaver (August 21, 2019). "The future is not here yet, but the Rangers can, maybe, see it from here". The Athletic. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  20. T.R. Sullivan (August 21, 2019). "Solak, Burke hit the ground running in debuts". MLB.com. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  21. "Statcast Sprint Speed Leaderboard | baseballsavant.com". Baseballsavant.mlb.com. Retrieved 2019-10-09.
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