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). He made his MLB debut in 2019.

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 April 29, 2022)
Batting average.256
Home runs20
Runs batted in92
Teams

Early and personal life

Solak was born on January 11, 1995, in Woodridge, Illinois.[1] His father Mark worked for Motorola for 30 years,[2] while his mother Roseann (née Pawlak) has a background in community health and substance abuse prevention. He has a sister named Alexis.[3] Growing up outside of Chicago, Solak was a childhood fan of the Chicago White Sox, and his favorite childhood baseball players were Scott Podsednik, Paul Konerko, and Mark Buehrle.[4] Solak played three seasons with the varsity baseball team at Naperville North High School in Naperville, Illinois, where he batted .442 with 27 runs batted in (RBI) as a junior in 2012. As a senior in 2013, he had a .340 batting average.[5]

Solak married his girfriend, Roxanne McVey, on November 20, 2021. Solak and McVey met during their attendance at the University of Louisville, where McVey played volleyball.[1]

College career

Solak made his college baseball debut on February 16, 2014, pinch hitting for the Louisville Cardinals in their 6–1 win against the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens.[6][7] The following week, Solak experienced a number of collegiate firsts. On February 19, during the Cardinals' season home opener against Eastern Kentucky, he recorded his first RBI on a groundout.[8] Two days later, he recorded his first hit in the Cardinals' 21–8 rout of the Western Michigan Broncos,[9] and he made his first start the day after that as a designated hitter when the Cardinals shut out the Broncos 8–0.[6][10]

During the summer of 2015, he played for the Bourne Braves of the Cape Cod League, where he was named a league all-star.[11][12] At Louisville, Solak played in 159 games over three seasons (2014–2016) for the Cardinals and earned College Freshman All-American honors in 2014[13] and College All-American honors as a junior in 2016.[14] Solak finished his collegiate career with a slash line of .346/.442/.484 with 10 home runs, 94 RBI, 36 stolen bases, and a .926 OPS.[15]

Professional career

New York Yankees

The New York Yankees selected Solak in the second round of the 2016 MLB draft,[16] and signed him for a $950,000 signing bonus.[17] He made his professional debut with the Staten Island Yankees.[18] He finished the 2016 season with a .321 batting average and 3 homers.[1] 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.[1]

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 Rays and Taylor Widener from the Yankees, and the Rays acquired Anthony Banda, Colin Poche, and Sam McWilliams from the Diamondbacks.[19] 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,[1] Solak was named Montgomery's MVP.[20]

Solak began 2019 with the Durham Bulls.[21] He finished his Bulls season with a .266/.350/.485/.835 slash line, 17 home runs, and 47 RBI in 301 at-bats.[22]

Texas Rangers

On July 13, 2019, Solak was traded to the Texas Rangers in exchange for Pete Fairbanks.[23] He was assigned to the Nashville Sounds of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League.[22] On August 20, the Rangers selected Solak's contract and promoted him to the major leagues.[24] 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.[2][25] 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.[26]

In 2020 Solak played at a variety of positions, as well as being a designated hitter. His first home run of the season on August 9 was annulled after a referee changed it to an error committed by Jo Adell.[27] Solak played 58 games (a tie for the club lead with Isiah Kiner-Falefa), finishing .268/.326/.344.[1]

On July 23, 2021, Solak was optioned to the Triple-A Round Rock Express after struggling to a .225/.295/.353 slash line in 92 games to begin the year.[28] He was recalled to the Rangers on August 20,[29] and finished the season hitting .242/.314/.362/.677 with 11 home runs and 49 RBI.[30]

References
  1. "Nick Solak Stats, Fantasy & News". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  2. Sullivan, T. R. (December 23, 2019). "Rangers rookie truly 'rings' in the holidays". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  3. Grant, Evan (February 29, 2020). "Rangers' Nick Solak is a South Side 'throwback', right down to the bar he was named after". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  4. McCann, Savannah (April 24, 2021). "Solak calls hometown HR 'cool' moment". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  5. Baumgartner, Blake (August 27, 2019). "'It was an absolutely amazing day': Naperville North's Nick Solak stars in debut with Texas Rangers". Naperville Sun. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  6. "Nick Solak – Baseball". University of Louisville Athletics. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  7. "Ruxer, Early Offense Lead No. 8 Louisville Past Delaware, 6–1". University of Louisville Athletics. February 16, 2014. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  8. Borden, Brett (February 20, 2014). "Cardinals sing as Burdis both sling in home opener". The Courier-Journal. p. C5. Retrieved March 9, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "No. 7 Cardinals Slug Past Western Michigan, 21–8". University of Louisville Athletics. February 21, 2014. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  10. "Funkhouser Strikes Out 10 as No. 7 Louisville Shuts Out WMU". University of Louisville Athletics. February 22, 2014. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  11. "#2 Nick Solak". pointstreak.com. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  12. "Cape League All-Star, Home Run selections released". capecodbaseball.org. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  13. "2nd Team College Freshman All-American History – The Baseball Cube". www.thebaseballcube.com. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  14. "3rd Team College All-American History – The Baseball Cube". www.thebaseballcube.com. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  15. "Nick Solak College, Amateur, Minor & Winter Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  16. Greer, Jeff (June 9, 2016). "Louisville's Solak picked 62nd in MLB Draft". The Courier-Journal.
  17. "2016 Draft: Signing and Bonus Tracker". MLB.com. June 15, 2016. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  18. Welge, Joshua (June 14, 2016). "Naperville North grad Nick Solak wastes no time signing with New York Yankees". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
  19. Gilbert, Steve (May 24, 2018). "D-backs, Yankees, Rays make three-team trade". MLB.com. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  20. Tampa Bay Rays (September 28, 2018). "Rays announce 2018 Minor League award winners". MLB.com. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  21. Bumbaca, Chris. "Rays' Solak blasts off twice for Bulls". milb.com. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  22. Sullivan, T. R. (July 13, 2019). "Rangers acquire Minor League 2B for Fairbanks". MLB.com. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  23. Grant, Evan. "Remember the Pete Fairbanks-Nick Solak trade? It's working out well for the Rangers, Rays". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  24. Wilson, Jeff (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.
  25. Weaver, Levi (August 21, 2019). "The future is not here yet, but the Rangers can, maybe, see it from here". The Athletic. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  26. "Statcast Sprint Speed Leaderboard | baseballsavant.com". Baseballsavant.mlb.com. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  27. Dixon, Schuyler. "4-base error on ball over fence helps Rangers top Angels 7-3". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  28. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/07/rangers-option-nick-solak-designate-john-hicks.html
  29. Landry, Kennedy (September 1, 2021). "Nick Solak impressing manager batting coach". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  30. Weaver, Levi (October 6, 2021). "Grading the 2021 Texas Rangers: Position players edition". The Athletic. Retrieved October 8, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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