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. Early and personal life. Solak was born on January 11, 1995, in Woodridge, Illinois. His father Mark worked for Motorola for 30 years, while his mother Roseann () has a background in community health and substance abuse prevention. He has a sister named Alexis. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Two days later, he recorded his first hit in the Cardinals' 21–8 rout of the Western Michigan Broncos, and he made his first start the day after that as a designated hitter when the Cardinals shut out the Broncos 8–0. During the summer of 2015, he played for the Bourne Braves of the Cape Cod League, where he was named a league all-star. At Louisville, Solak  played in 159 games over three seasons (2014–2016) 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 with 10 home runs, 94 RBI, 36 stolen bases, and a .926 OPS. Professional career. 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 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. He finished his Bulls season with a .266/.350/.485/.835 slash line, 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 Pete Fairbanks. He was assigned to the Nashville Sounds of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League . On August 20, 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. 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. Solak played 58 games (a tie for the club lead with Isiah Kiner-Falefa), finishing .268/.326/.344. 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. He was recalled to the Rangers on August 20, and finished the season hitting .242/.314/.362/.677 with 11 home runs and 49 RBI.