César Salazar (baseball)

César Salazar
Houston Astros – No. 18
Catcher
Born: (1996-03-15) March 15, 1996 (age 28)
Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 2, 2023, for the Houston Astros
MLB statistics
(through 2024 season)
Batting average.233
Home runs0
Runs batted in8
Teams

César Salazar (born March 15, 1996) is a Mexican professional baseball catcher for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB).

From Hermosillo, Mexico, Salazar moved to Tucson, Arizona, when he was 16 and later attended the University of Arizona, where he played college baseball for the Wildcats. The Astros selected him in the seventh round of the 2018 MLB draft and he made his MLB debut in 2023.

Early life

César Salazar moved to Arizona from Hermosillo, Sonora, in Mexico when he was 16, and attended Sahuaro High School in Tucson. As a youth, Salazar played soccer and tennis in addition to baseball. As a senior in 2015, he earned the Hal Eustice Award for baseball player of the year after hitting .612 in 62 at bats with 16 runs batted (RBI) and 4 home runs. He played college baseball for the Wildcats at the University of Arizona.[1] While at Arizona, he played collegiate summer baseball for the La Crosse Loggers of the Northwoods League, and in 2017 for the Orleans Firebirds of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[2][3]

Career

The Houston Astros selected Salazar in the seventh round, 222nd overall, of the 2018 MLB draft.[4] He spent his first professional season playing 36 games between the Low-A Tri-City ValleyCats and Single-A Quad Cities River Bandits. He spent the 2019 season with Quad Cities, hitting .262/.323/.371 with 3 home runs, 39 runs batted in (RBI), and 5 stolen bases across 71 games. Salazar did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]

Salazar spent the 2021 season split between the High-A Asheville Tourists and Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks, also appearing in one game for the Triple-A Sugar Land Skeeters. In 56 total games, Salazar hit a cumulative .251/.338/.492 with 11 home runs, 32 RBI, and 4 stolen bases. In 2022, he spent the majority of the year with Corpus Christi, ending the year with Sugar Land, who had rebranded as the Space Cowboys. In 102 games between the two affiliates, he slashed .265/.338/.445 with 16 home runs, 60 RBI, and 8 stolen bases.[6]

On March 28, 2023, the Astros announced that Salazar had made the Opening Day roster.[7] He had his contract selected to the 40-man roster on March 30. On April 2, 2023, Salazar made his major league debut, appearing as a pinch hitter and drawing a base on balls (BB) in his lone plate appearance that game.[8] Salazar singled on April 16, for his first major league hit off of Josh Sborz in the ninth inning versus the Texas Rangers at Minute Maid Park.[9] Salazar saw sporadic playing time with Houston, going 2-for-14 with a walk in only 10 games. He was optioned to Triple–A Sugar Land on June 5, after the team promoted Grae Kessinger.[10]

Salazar was optioned to Triple–A Sugar Land to begin the 2024 season.[11] On June 19, 2024, Salazar drove in 2 runs with two hits for his first career multi-hit game in the majors to key a 4–1 win over the Chicago White Sox.[12] In 2024, he played 12 games for the Astros, batting .320/.387/.400 in 32 plate appearances, with 2 doubles, 5 runs scored and 8 RBI. He played 10 games as catcher.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ Kyle, Brad (November 25, 2019). "Roamin' Cesar Salazar Landing Into Houston Astros' Catching Future". The Runner Sports. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
  2. ^ "#33 Cesar Salazar - Profile". pointstreak.com. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  3. ^ "Cesar Salazar". Arizona Wildcats Athletics. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  4. ^ Kelapire, Ryan (June 5, 2018). "Arizona C Cesar Salazar selected by Houston Astros in 7th round of MLB Draft". Arizona Desert Swarm. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
  5. ^ "2020 Minor League Baseball season cancelled". MLB.com. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
  6. ^ "From México to Corpus Christi, Hooks' Cesar Salazar making the most of path to big leagues". caller.com. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  7. ^ "Astros' Cesar Salazar: Makes roster in HOU". CBSSports.com. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  8. ^ Contreras, Rocío (April 2, 2023). "El sonorense Cesar Salazar debuta en MLB con los Astros de Houston". VPro Sports (in Spanish). Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  9. ^ Lerner, Danielle (April 16, 2023). "Rangers 9, Astros 1: Texas takes the series with a blowout". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  10. ^ "Astros' Cesar Salazar: Optioned to Triple-A". cbssports.com. June 5, 2023. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  11. ^ "Astros' Cesar Salazar: Ticketed for Triple-A". cbssports.com. March 21, 2024. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  12. ^ "Hunter Brown tosses 6 impressive innings, César Salazar drives in 2 in Astros' 4–1 win vs. White Sox". ESPN.com. Associated Press. June 19, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  13. ^ "César Salazar stats, height, weight, position, rookie status & more". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 13, 2024.