Niko Decolati

Nicholas Quinn Decolati (born August 12, 1997) is an American professional baseball right fielder who is a free agent.

Niko Decolati
Free agent
Right fielder
Born: (1997-08-12) August 12, 1997 (age 28) Boulder, Colorado, U.S.
Bats: Right Throws: Right

Amateur career

Decolati was born in Boulder, Colorado, before moving to Las Vegas due to his father's job; he attended Cimarron-Memorial High School in Las Vegas.^[1] As a junior in 2014, he batted .414 with eight home runs.^[2] In 2015, Decolati senior year, he hit .411 with ten home runs, 25 RBI, and 39 runs, and was named the Southern Nevada Player of the Year.^[3]

After graduating high school in 2015, Decolati enrolled at Loyola Marymount University where he played college baseball. As a freshman in 2016, he played in 47 games (making forty starts) in which he hit .306 with four home runs and 33 RBI, earning a spot on the All-West Coast Conference Freshman Team.^[4] In 2017, Decolati played in 56 games, slashing .320/.426/.432 with four home runs and 24 RBI. That summer, he played collegiate summer baseball for the Orleans Firebirds of the Cape Cod Baseball League, where he was named a league all-star.^[5][6] As a junior in 2018, Decolati started 54-of-55 games and batted .271 with six home runs and 21 RBI.^[7]

Professional career

After his junior year, he was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the sixth round, with the 186th overall selection, of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft.^[8]

Decolati signed with the Rockies and was assigned to the Grand Junction Rockies of the Rookie-level Pioneer League. After being a third baseman all through high school and college, the Rockies immediately moved him to right field,^[9] where he was subsequently named an All-Star.^[10] Over 69 games in Grand Junction, Decolati batted .327 with 11 home runs and 56 RBI.^[11] In 2019, he missed time at the beginning of the year after suffering a broken wrist, but returned to play in June with the Asheville Tourists of the Single-A South Atlantic League, hitting .265 with six home runs and 38 RBI over 77 appearances.^[12] Decolati did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[13]

Decolati was assigned to the Spokane Indians of the High-A West for the 2021 season, slashing .264/.341/.402 with 11 home runs, 56 RBI, and 26 stolen bases over 100 games.^[14] He spent the 2022 season with the Hartford Yard Goats of the Double-A Eastern League but missed time due to injury.^[15] Over 44 appearances for Hartford, Decolati slashed .199/.327/.277 with one home run and 17 RBI.^[16] He returned to Hartford for the 2023 season, slashing .225/.380/.313 with three home runs, 16 RBI, and 12 stolen bases.^[17]

In 2024, Decolati played in only 10 games for the rookie-level Arizona Complex League Rockies, hitting .143/.333/.143 with three RBI and one stolen base. He elected free agency following the season on November 4, 2024.^[18]