Yangervis Solarte

Yangervis Alfredo Solarte (born July 3, 1987) is a Venezuelan professional baseball infielder for the Algodoneros de Unión Laguna of the Mexican League.

Solarte signed with the Minnesota Twins in 2005, a few weeks before his 18th birthday.

Working his way through the lower levels of the Twins organization, he reached Double-A in 2009, but underwent surgery on his right shoulder and only played 16 games that season.

In 2010, he split time between the High-A Florida State League and the Double-A Eastern League.

Playing the full season with New Britain of the Eastern League in 2011, he recorded a batting line of .329/.367/.466 in 121 games, most of them at second base.

In December 2011, Solarte signed a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers, which included an invitation to spring training.

Solarte played both the 2012 and 2013 seasons with the Rangers' Triple-A affiliate, the Round Rock Express, where he made starts at second, third, shortstop, left field, and first base.

Between the two seasons, he had a .282/.331/.404 batting line and 23 home runs in 263 games.

Following the 2013 season, Solarte became a free agent, and his agent, Chris Leible, helped convince him that his best opportunity to play regularly in the majors would be as a utility infielder.

Three scouts had endorsed him, including Jay Darnell, David Keith and Don Wakamatsu.

He made his MLB debut for the New York Yankees on April 2, 2014, and has also played for the San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays, and San Francisco Giants.

He has additionally played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Hanshin Tigers.

Solarte signed a minor league deal with the New York Yankees in January 2014, who had passed on resigning free agent second baseman Robinson Canó.

In spring training in 2014, Solarte competed with Eduardo Núñez, Zelous Wheeler, Dean Anna, and Scott Sizemore for a reserve infielder role with the Yankees, making the team out of spring training.

Solarte's time with the Yankees started with collecting nine hits in his first 20 at bats, including four doubles and six RBI.

On April 8, 2014, Solarte hit two doubles, and became the first player in the Modern Era (since 1900) to hit six doubles in his first seven games in the Major Leagues.

On April 17, 2014 Solarte started a 5-4-3 triple play against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.

He hit his first big league home run later that same game off of Rays pitcher Grant Balfour.

He then hit his second home run, a three-run shot, against the Milwaukee Brewers, which eventually drove them to win the game.

Early the next month, Solarte at one point held the highest batting average in the American League.

On July 3, 2014 Solarte was optioned back down to AAA while INF Zelous Wheeler was called up to the main roster.

On July 10, 2014 Solarte was called back up to the Yankees in place of the injured Carlos Beltrán.

Over 75 games with the Yankees in 2014, Solarte batted .254/.337/.381 with 6 home runs, making multiple starts at third and second base and one at shortstop.

On July 22, 2014, the Yankees traded Solarte and Rafael de Paula to the San Diego Padres in exchange for Chase Headley.

One day later, Solarte made his Padres debut on the road against the Chicago Cubs.

Solarte spent most of his time at third base in place of the departed Headley, but also made starts at second, shortstop, and in left field.

With the Padres in 2014, he batted .267/.336/.355 with 4 home runs in 56 games.

In 2015, Solarte and Will Middlebrooks competed for the third base job in spring training.

Solarte ended up taking on a super-utility role to begin the season, making 60 starts in the first half around the infield, including a run of 17 starts at first base while Yonder Alonso was on the disabled list with a shoulder injury.

In the second half, Solarte became the everyday third basemen as Middlebrooks was demoted to Triple-A in July.

On the season, Solarte batted .270/.320/.428 with 14 home runs in 152 games, including 85 starts at third base.

Solarte came into the 2016 season as the Padres starting third baseman.

Solarte suffered a strained hamstring early on and missed 38 games in April and May.

During the season, Solarte's wife developed complications from cancer, and he left the team for four days in July to attend to her.

He again left the team in September when her condition worsened, and she passed on September 17.

On December 15, 2016, it was announced that Solarte was the recipient of the Tony Conigliaro Award for his on-field achievements while overcoming personal tragedy.

Solarte batted .286/.341/.467 on the season, with 15 home runs in 109 games.

In January 2017, the Padres signed Solarte to a two-year contract with a club option for two additional years.

Coming into the season, manager Andy Green decided to have Solarte spend more time at second base and give playing time at third to Ryan Schimpf or Cory Spangenberg.

Solarte was the regular second-baseman until June 20, when the Padres placed him on the 10-day disabled list with an oblique injury.