Nick Solak

BIOGRAPHY

Nick Solak was born January 11, 1995, in Woodridge, Illinois. He is an outfielder for the Texas Rangers in the MLB.

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.

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.

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.