Sammy Solis

Amateur career

Solis attended Agua Fria High School in Avondale, Arizona. Playing for the school's baseball team, he had a 7–3 win–loss record and a 1.77 earned run average (ERA) with 117 strikeouts and 29 walks with 25 hits allowed in  59 ¹⁄₃ innings pitched in his sophomore year. He shared West Valley High School Baseball Player of the Year honors with Kole Calhoun. In his junior year, he had a 4–4 record and a 1.93 ERA, and recorded 87 strikeouts with 23 walks and 45 hits in  63 ²⁄₃ innings. While in his junior year, he competed in the American Amateur Baseball Congress and won the 2006 Connie Mack World Series. As a senior, Solis had a 8–2 record, a 2.40 ERA, and 98 strikeouts to 43 hits and 23 walks in  61 ¹⁄₃ innings. He was again named West Valley's High School Baseball Co-Player of the Year, along with Cody Cress. Solis finished his high school career with a 25–8 win–loss record and 398 strikeouts, the second-most in Arizona Class 4A history.

Baseball America ranked Solis as the 53rd-best prospect available in the 2007 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft. The Arizona Diamondbacks selected Solis in the 18th round of the draft, but he did not sign in order to play college baseball. Solis attended the University of San Diego, where he played for the San Diego Toreros baseball team. As a freshman, Solis had a 3–1 record and a 3.83 earned run average (ERA) in 17 games pitched, which included seven games started. Expected to pitch more in 2009 due to Brian Matusz signing a professional contract, Solis instead injured his back while weightlifting. He returned as a redshirt sophomore in 2010, and had a 9–2 record and a 3.42 ERA with 92 strikeouts and 82 hits allowed in 92 innings pitched. He was named All-West Coast Conference.

Professional career

The Washington Nationals selected Solis in the second round, with the 51st overall selection of the 2010 MLB Draft, and Solis received a $1 million signing bonus to sign with Washington. Pitching for the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League (AFL) after the 2010 regular season, Solis won the AFL championship. He again pitched in the AFL after the 2011 regular season, when he damaged the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his elbow. Before the 2012 season, MLB.com rated Solis as the 86th-best prospect in baseball. He had Tommy John surgery to repair the UCL in March 2012 and missed the 2012 season. He returned to Potomac in 2013, and was assigned to the AFL after the 2013 season.

After the 2013 season, the Nationals added Solis to their 40-man roster. He was shut down in June 2014 with discomfort in his elbow after making one start for the Harrisburg Senators of the Class AA Eastern League. Solis began the 2015 season with Harrisburg. He was promoted to the major leagues on April 29, and made his major league debut the next day.

Solis started the 2016 season at Triple-A Syracuse, but he was called up April 27 after reliever Matt Belisle was injured and placed on the disabled list. Solis himself spent time on the disabled list in 2016, briefly being listed with knee soreness on July 17 and then being sidelined with left shoulder inflammation from August 17 to September 26. Solis was regarded as having what an SB Nation writer called "something of a breakout season" in 2016, pitching to a 2.41 ERA in 41 innings and proving equally effective against hitters on both sides of the plate. He appeared in all five games of the 2016 National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Injuries once again plagued Solis in the Nationals' 2017 season. Although he started the year in the major league bullpen, he landed on the disabled list on April 19 with left elbow inflammation and struggled after being activated July 1 after an extended rehabilitation stint in the minor leagues. Solis was optioned back to Syracuse over the All-Star Break after several poor performances in relief.