Baby Bombers' Solak slugs pair of homers
Nick Solak knows it sounds cliché, but he really was just trying to hit the ball up the middle in each of his first two at-bats on Saturday night.Pulling the ball twice might not have been what the 22-year-old was looking for, but he's not about to complain about the
Nick Solak knows it sounds cliché, but he really was just trying to hit the ball up the middle in each of his first two at-bats on Saturday night.
Pulling the ball twice might not have been what the 22-year-old was looking for, but he's not about to complain about the results.
Solak slugged three-run homers in those first two at-bats and went 4-for-5 with a career-high six RBIs to lead Class A Advanced Tampa past Daytona, 11-3, at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
The four hits matched a personal best for the Yankees' No. 13 prospect, who notched his first four-hit game against the Fire Frogs on June 21. Saturday's effort also marked the first multi-homer game of his career, going back to his high school days in Illinois.
Gameday box score
"I was a little surprised, to be honest. That was my first two-homer game as a pro and I didn't have any at the [University of Louisville]," Solak said. "It's nice though when the offense is clicking, and that's been the case for us here for a pretty good stretch. When you've got runners on in front of you and have those opportunities to drive in runs, it's definitely a nice situation to be in."
The second baseman stepped to the plate with runners at the corners and nobody out in the opening frame. He got ahead in the count, 2-0, and blasted the next pitch out to left field for a quick 3-0 lead. The same situation presented itself in the second inning and Solak again went deep to left, giving him six RBIs in two at-bats.
"We started off the game well," the 2016 second-round pick said. "[Jeff Hendrix] doubled and [Kyle Holder] laid down a perfect bunt to put two runners on. I was trying to see the ball deep and hit it up the middle. I caught a change and yanked it out. It was the same thing in the next inning -- both guys set the table and I was trying to do the same thing. It was pretty much the same type of pitch and I got out in front a little but stayed back enough to pull it out."
Solak struck out in the fourth, then singled to center and scored in the seventh. He went up the middle again in the ninth for his career high-tying fourth hit. He had no thoughts of trying to park one for the third time.
"I was sticking with my approach," Solak said. "I try and go up the middle or to right-center and I wasn't going to get away from that."
The 5-foot-11, 175-pounder hit .321/.412/.421 with one homer in 64 games with Class A Short Season Staten Island during his professional debut last summer. Promoted aggressively to the Florida State League, Solak got off to a slow start with Tampa in April, hitting .264 with two RBIs in 23 games. He's rebounded to bat .310 with 26 extra-base hits and 41 RBIs in 74 games since May 1.
"I started off the year pretty slowly. I think I went 1-for-17 and struck out four times in one game that first week," he said. "We all got off to a bit of a slow start. I think we pressed coming out of Spring Training, but we trusted in our ability and started to turn it on before too long.
"We battle through as a group and tried to get better individually and as a unit each and every day. It's nice to have a team full of guys who are always behind you and looking to help."
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Tim Lynch also went deep twice for the Yanks, while Hendrix chipped in three hits.
Starter Taylor Widener allowed two unearned runs on four hits in 4 2/3 innings. The Yankees' 20th-ranked prospect struck out two and walked three.
Blake Butler went deep for the Tortugas.
Michael Avallone is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @MavalloneMiLB.
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