Nick Solak


Nicholas Blake Solak is an American professional baseball second baseman and outfielder for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball.

Career

Amateur career

Solak graduated from Naperville North High School in Naperville, Illinois. He enrolled at the University of Louisville and played college baseball for the Louisville Cardinals. During the summer of 2015, he played for the Bourne Braves of the Cape Cod League. At Louisville, Solak played in 159 games over three seasons for the Cardinals and earned College Freshman All-American honors in 2014 and College All-American honors as a Junior in 2016. Solak finished his collegiate career with a slash line of.346/.442/.484 to go along with 10 HR, 94 RBI, 36 SB, and a.926 OPS.

New York Yankees

The New York Yankees selected Solak in the second round of the 2016 MLB draft, and signed him for a $950,000 signing bonus. He made his professional debut with the Staten Island Yankees. He finished the 2016 season with a.321 batting average and 3 homers. 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.

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. 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, Solak was named Montgomery's MVP.
Solak began 2019 with the Durham Bulls, hitting.266/.350/.485/.835 with 17 home runs and 47 RBI in 301 at-bats.

Texas Rangers

On July 13, 2019, Solak was traded to the Texas Rangers in exchange for Peter Fairbanks. He was assigned to the Nashville Sounds of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League.
On August 20, 2019, the Rangers selected Solak's contract and promoted him to the major leagues. 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. 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.