Nick Solak Stats & Scouting Report

AB	296
AVG	.311
OBP	.406
SLG	.446
HR	9

Full name Nicholas Blake Solak
Born 01/11/1995 in Woodridge, IL
Profile Ht.: 5'9" / Wt.: 185 / Bats: R / Throws: R
School Louisville
Debut 08/20/2019
Drafted in the 2nd round (62nd overall) by the New York Yankees in 2016 (signed for $950,000).

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He's moved back and forth between the outfield and second base for Louisville and in the Cape Cod League last summer, but Solak has worked hard to become a fringe-average second baseman whose hitting ability makes up for his limited range. What Solak does really well is hit. He has an uncharacteristically quiet setup. He simply sets his hands, takes a simple stride and starts his hands with almost no load. It doesn't generate much power, but Solak sprays stinging line drives from gap to gap. He's hit over .300 in each of his three years at Louisville and he also hit .329 to lead Bourne last summer in the Cape. He missed three weeks with a deep bruise after he took a pitch off his hand, but when healthy he was hitting nearly .400. Solak is an above-average runner who can handle left field as well as second base. He profiles as an offensive second baseman or corner outfielder, not as much a utility infielder as a bat who play multiple positions.

Top Rankings

Organization Prospect Rankings

TRACK RECORD: Solak has been traded twice in his career, first from the Yankees to Rays, then in July 2019 to the Rangers for reliever Peter Fairbanks. He made his big league debut with the Rangers on Aug. 20 and performed well the rest of the season.

SCOUTING REPORT: Solak has major defensive questions, but his track record of hitting is impressive. He has a short swing with a level path that stays on plane with the pitch for a long time, with solid bat-to-ball skills. He has a good eye for the strike zone and makes good swing decisions with consistent quality at-bats. He has solid-average raw power but hit a combined 32 home runs last year, with his contact frequency and the baseball in Triple-A enhancing his power numbers. Solak is a plus runner, but his infield defense is rough. He's a well below-average defender at second base, where he has an average arm but stiff actions and footwork. He played fringe-average defense in left field with the Rays, though the Rangers mostly used him at second and third base.

THE FUTURE: Even if Solak goes to left field, his ability to create runs might be enough to carry him as a league-average player there.
Track Record: Solak has long been a productive hitter. The Yankees shipped him to the Rays just before spring training in 2018 in the deal that saw Brandon Drury head to New York.

Scouting Report: Solak has always hit and he'll continue to hit. He's a plus hitter with a short, simple swing that has always worked for him. He consistently puts together competitive at-bats that are annoying for a pitcher and he draws enough walks to post lofty on-base percentages. And he has developed average power to punish pitchers' mistakes even though his swing isn't geared for power. What the Rays haven't figured out yet is where Solak can play. He's a below-average defender at second base. He's reliable when he gets to a ball (he made just two errors all season) but he has below-average feet and range and struggles to turn double plays. The Rays tried him in the outfield (which he also played at Louisville). His plus speed is an asset, but he's fringy there as well. Solak's average arm is adequate wherever he plays.

The Future: Observers believe Solak is a more consistent hitter than teammate Brandon Lowe, but Lowe has more power, is a better defender at second and has already reached Tampa Bay, so Solak's path to everyday at-bats with the Rays is murky. He's ready for Triple-A.
After an impressive Cape Cod League performance in 2016, Solak continued his standout performance in his junior season with Louisville. He hit .376/.470/.564 with the Cardinals and boosted his draft stock enough to earn a second-round selection and a $950,000 bonus. He was head and shoulders above the competition at short-season Staten Island and was skipped to high Class A Tampa to begin his pro career. With the T-Yanks, Solak continued solidifying his reputation as one of the more polished hitters in the system. He brings a short, quick line-drive stroke designed to spray line drives to all fields, though his spray chart this year suggests his hits skewed toward the opposite field. That's in line with a hole that scouts noticed in his swing on the inside part of the plate. There are also questions about his defense, specifically his stiff actions in the field. His entire profile leads to comparisons to former Yankee Rob Refsnyder, another bat-first second baseman with the outfield in his past and holes that got exposed once he saw the advanced pitching of the upper levels. He's neither a burner nor a clogger, but he'll never be more than an average runner. Solak was promoted to Double-A when Jorge Mateo was traded to Oakland in the Sonny Gray deal, and Solak provided the offensive production the Thunder needed to advance to the Eastern League Championship Series. He's likely to return to Trenton to begin 2018.
After shifting between second base and the outfield in the Cape Cod League between his sophomore and junior years, Solak settled in at second base on a stacked Louisville club for his junior season. He hit .376/.470/.564 as the Cardinals made a run to Super Regionals, and found enough helium along the way to earn a $950,000 signing bonus as a second-round pick. Solak is a contact-oriented hitter who struck out just 67 times over three years at Louisville while showing consistent gap power and home run juice to the opposite field. His range is limited at second base, but he has worked hard to improve and get himself playable at the position. He is an above-average runner who stole 36 bases in college and then added nine more in as many tries in his professional debut with short-season Staten Island. A polished hitter in the mold of current Yankee Rob Refsnyder, Solak has a chance to skip low Class A Charleston altogether and begin next season at high Class A Tampa.

Draft Prospects

He's moved back and forth between the outfield and second base for Louisville and in the Cape Cod League last summer, but Solak has worked hard to become a fringe-average second baseman whose hitting ability makes up for his limited range. What Solak does really well is hit. He has an uncharacteristically quiet setup. He simply sets his hands, takes a simple stride and starts his hands with almost no load. It doesn't generate much power, but Solak sprays stinging line drives from gap to gap. He's hit over .300 in each of his three years at Louisville and he also hit .329 to lead Bourne last summer in the Cape. He missed three weeks with a deep bruise after he took a pitch off his hand, but when healthy he was hitting nearly .400. Solak is an above-average runner who can handle left field as well as second base. He profiles as an offensive second baseman or corner outfielder, not as much a utility infielder as a bat who play multiple positions.

Minor League Top Prospects

Solak made it clear that his power wasn’t a one-year blip when he continued that surge in his first Triple-A season. He his 17 home runs in just 86 games before being traded to the Rangers at the July deadline. “How many second basemen have done that?” Bulls manager Brady Williams said. Solak’s power comes from an easy stroke and he’s comfortable using the entire field. Solak has bounced around defensively. He’s fringe-average at best at second base and an attempt to add to his versatility by playing him in the outfield didn’t really take. But if he keeps hitting for power, the Rangers will find a spot to play him.
Solak led the high Class A Florida State League in on-base percentage in the Yankees’ system in his 2017 full-season debut. But the Yankees traded him to the Rays (and Taylor Widener to the D-backs) in the three-team deal that netted them Brandon Drury. Solak continued to excel in the SL this season, leading the league with 135 hits, 91 runs and a .384 OBP. Solak drew raves from SL managers as a gritty competitor who showed an ability to hit, hit for power and run, and he missed a 20-20 season by only one home run. He shows the outline of a plus major league hitter with his ability to work pitchers and hit to all fields, while scouts give him a chance for average power with a short, powerful swing and surprising strength. An average runner, he is a plus baserunner who knows how to pick his spots. Solak struggles with footwork and the double-play turn at second base, grading as below-average there, but he picked up both left field and center field in 2018. As he improves his routes and arm strength in the outfield, he could become a multi-positional asset.
Solak had a strong hitting track record at Louisville, and the Yankees had enough confidence in his hitting ability to jump him to the FSL for his first full season. He handled the jump easily offensively, ranking second in the league in batting (.301), leading in on-base percentage (.397) and ranking third in slugging (.460) before receiving a promotion to Double-A Trenton. Solak kept hitting after the promotion, and his better speed, athletic ability and plate discipline had scouts giving him the edge over Brandon Lowe among the FSL's offense-first second basemen. One league manager compared Solak favorably to a power-speed second baseman from the league in 2016 in Scott Kingery, who finished 2017 in Triple-A with the Phillies after a 26-homer, 29-steal season. Scouts aren't sure Solak has Kingery's power, but he has fast hands, a feel for hitting and above-average speed. He's put in the work to become an average defender, though that's still the area of his game where he needs the most work. "He's a baseball player who can really hit," one league manager said. "He's a pain in the butt to have to play against; that's a compliment."

Best Tools List

Rated Best Hitter for Average in the New York Yankees in 2018

Scouting Reports

TRACK RECORD: Solak has been traded twice in his career, first from the Yankees to Rays, then in July 2019 to the Rangers for reliever Peter Fairbanks. He made his big league debut with the Rangers on Aug. 20 and performed well the rest of the season.

SCOUTING REPORT: Solak has major defensive questions, but his track record of hitting is impressive. He has a short swing with a level path that stays on plane with the pitch for a long time, with solid bat-to-ball skills. He has a good eye for the strike zone and makes good swing decisions with consistent quality at-bats. He has solid-average raw power but hit a combined 32 home runs last year, with his contact frequency and the baseball in Triple-A enhancing his power numbers. Solak is a plus runner, but his infield defense is rough. He’s a well below-average defender at second base, where he has an average arm but stiff actions and footwork. He played fringe-average defense in left field with the Rays, though the Rangers mostly used him at second and third base.

THE FUTURE: Even if Solak goes to left field, his ability to create runs might be enough to carry him as a league-average player there.
TRACK RECORD: Solak has been traded twice in his career, first from the Yankees to Rays, then in July 2019 to the Rangers for reliever Peter Fairbanks. He made his big league debut with the Rangers on Aug. 20 and performed well the rest of the season.

SCOUTING REPORT: Solak has major defensive questions, but his track record of hitting is impressive. He has a short swing with a level path that stays on plane with the pitch for a long time, with solid bat-to-ball skills. He has a good eye for the strike zone and makes good swing decisions with consistent quality at-bats. He has solid-average raw power but hit a combined 32 home runs last year, with his contact frequency and the baseball in Triple-A enhancing his power numbers. Solak is a plus runner, but his infield defense is rough. He's a well below-average defender at second base, where he has an average arm but stiff actions and footwork. He played fringe-average defense in left field with the Rays, though the Rangers mostly used him at second and third base.

THE FUTURE: Even if Solak goes to left field, his ability to create runs might be enough to carry him as a league-average player there.
Solak made it clear that his power wasn’t a one-year blip when he continued that surge in his first Triple-A season. He his 17 home runs in just 86 games before being traded to the Rangers at the July deadline. “How many second basemen have done that?” Bulls manager Brady Williams said. Solak’s power comes from an easy stroke and he’s comfortable using the entire field. Solak has bounced around defensively. He’s fringe-average at best at second base and an attempt to add to his versatility by playing him in the outfield didn’t really take. But if he keeps hitting for power, the Rangers will find a spot to play him.