Pirates prospect watch: Nick Solak was among best hitters in International League

Prospect Watch

Nick Solak

Position: OF/2B

Height: 5-foot-10

Weight: 185 pounds

Level: Triple-A

Aware of the offensive damage he’s been doing at Triple-A Indianapolis this season, the Pittsburgh Pirates gave Nick Solak a call-up before Friday’s game at Philadelphia.

Solak, 30, leads the International League in batting average (.382), is second in on-base percentage (.448), fourth in slugging (.618) and third with an OPS of 1.066.

Through 30 games with the Indians, Solak has six homers and 18 RBIs.

Originally drafted (second round, No. 62 overall) by the New York Yankees out of Louisville in 2016, being part of a pair of trades landed Solak with the Texas Rangers, for whom he made his MLB debut in 2019.

Solak ultimately played in 255 big-league games with the Rangers through 2022 and, the following year, he bounced around with the Detroit Tigers and Atlanta Braves, appearing in only two MLB contests.

Solak spent all of 2024 in the minors, slashing .311/.406/.446 with nine homers and 53 RBIs through 90 games with the Tacoma Rainiers, Triple-A affiliate of Seattle.

Last December, he elected free agency from the Mariners organization and was promptly scooped up by the Pirates.

Defensively over the course of his career, Solak has played primarily second base (141 MLB starts), as well as left field, center field and a bit of third base.

With the Indians this year, he’s seen most action in right field (11 games), followed by seven games at second and five in left. He played two games at first base, which was where he began his Pirates debut Friday.

A right-handed hitter, Solak is a career .292 batter in the minor leagues.

His most productive MLB campaign came in 2021 with Texas, when he appeared in 127 games, slashing .242/.314/.362 with 11 homers and 49 RBIs.