Second base is home for Nick Solak, but Texas Rangers needed him to do some homework

Second base isn’t something new for Nick Solak.

He played there at Louisville, where he was a third-team All-American as a junior in 2016.

The New York Yankees drafted him as a second baseman, and he played there exclusively his first two professional seasons and much of the next two in the minors.

Yet, the Texas Rangers have always seemed gun shy about playing him there since acquiring him in 2019 from Tampa Bay.

Some of that had to do with Rougned Odor and his piano-like contract the team carries on its back. Some of it, though possibly unbeknownst to him, was on Solak.

The Rangers weren’t sure how well he could play the position over long stretches, but their back finally gave and they needed to find out if he could unseat Odor.

That process is playing out in spring training, where Solak and the Rangers see improvement with the glove and assume the bat won’t be an issue. Odor is so convinced he won’t be playing much second base that he is spending most of his time at third base.

Second base is Solak’s to lose.

“I want this guy to make every play that he can get a glove on, and just finding out how to get a glove on it is the biggest thing,” said manager Chris Woodward, a former MLB infielder. “Getting off the ball was a big thing for him, and he’s worked really hard on it.

“He’s learning, ‘How do I move to my right as opposed to my left? What am I looking for? What’s the visual? You know, how do I see the ball? Am I reading swings? All those things are going to add up to him being able to make some of those difficult plays that maybe he couldn’t in the past.”

Solak said that he worked on his footwork around the bag in the offseason, particularly on double plays, and Woodward said that Solak has shortened up on his throws in an effort to improve accuracy and release time.

Solak is a good athlete and good runner, Woodward said, and that played out last season as the Rangers tried him out in left field and center field. At second, though, Solak said he needed to not be as heavy-footed getting to balls.

The Rangers didn’t want Solak to worry about other positions during the offseason, which allowed him to dedicate more time to getting better at second.

“I think to have that singular focus on a daily basis helped,” Solak said. “I have the most experience there, so I know exactly what I need to work on. I have a really good idea of those things compared to some of the other positions I hadn’t played as much throughout my career.”

He doesn’t seem offended by the Rangers’ constructive criticism. His goal is to improve every season, and the Rangers have given him the biggest opportunity of his career.

Who is he to argue?

“There’s always things that you can improve on, and that’s how I’ve approached this,” said Solak, who has played 22 career games at second in the majors. “Some things might come more natural or be easier, but they all the take the same amount of work to keep getting better at them. It’s a challenge that I like, to see how really how good I could get at that position.”

Solak, 26, is still trying to find his timing at the plate, but he said that has always been a long process in spring training. A right-handed hitter, Solak has power and knack for reaching base, and is a more consistent hitter than Odor.

Odor could end up starting at second on Opening Day if Solak fizzles this spring. But the more Odor plays at third, the more it looks as if the Rangers have given Solak second base.

The work he has put in and continues to put in tells the Rangers he’s going to be fine there.

“He’s not afraid to really look at himself and in a really humble, honest way,” Woodward said. “He knows his things he needs to improve on. I think that’s what kind of sets him apart, in my mind, from a mentality standpoint, and I trust that. But we’ve got to keep challenging him on that end. And my challenge to him in this camp is just to show that he can play second base.”