Ex-Cat Cesar Salazar excited to represent Hermosillo in Mexican Baseball Fiesta opener

Four months after he last played with the Arizona Wildcats, Cesar Salazar will once again take the field with them. But he won’t be playing with his former teammates — he’ll be taking the field against them.

Salazar will be playing for the team he grew up rooting for: the Hermosillo Naranjeros.

“It means a lot. It’s a team I grew up watching,” said Salazar, whose Naranjeros will take on the Wildcats on Thursday night at Kino Stadium as part of the Vamos a Tucson Mexican Baseball Fiesta. “It’s a team I’ve seen since I was a little kid. Right now, wearing their colors — it’s pretty special. I’ll be able to, hopefully, play in front of all my friends and family.”

The Houston Astros drafted Salazar, a Sahuaro High School product, in the seventh round of this year’s amateur draft. Salazar spent three seasons at the UA. He joined the Naranjeros recently for winter ball after playing 86 games with two of the Astros’ low-level minor league affiliates.

Salazar believes he’ll be able to help the Naranjeros beat Arizona.

“I mean, I know all the UA strategies, so they’re not going to fool us,” Salazar said. “That’s for sure.”

Salazar was born and raised in Hermosillo before moving to Tucson at age 16. His family’s home is 10 minutes from Estadio Sonora, where the Naranjeros play.

When he turned pro, Salazar knew exactly where he should play winter ball.

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“I knew some of the people from there,” Salazar said. “As soon as I knew I got drafted they took me. It’s easier with them since I’m from Hermosillo; they can just draft me automatically. They don’t have to wait. As soon as I got drafted, they pretty much drafted me, too.”

Salazar spent two weeks in West Palm Beach, Florida, as part of the Astros’ instructional league. The Astros have set no restrictions on his winter-league usage. He said he hopes to stay “the whole season” with Hermosillo.

The Naranjeros-Wildcats game, which is one of two opening day Fiesta games, will be the first game Salazar plays with his hometown team. Salazar said wearing the bright orange of the Naranjeros in Tucson is just as exciting. It’s the day he’s been looking forward to the most.

Seeing his former coaches and teammates again is a bonus.

“I get butterflies thinking about it — playing with a team I grew up watching and playing against a team that’s given me the best three years of my life so far,” Salazar said. “It doesn’t get any better. It’s going to be something special I’ll never forget.”

But even though it seems his career has come full circle, Salazar is just getting started.

Salazar’s journey won’t be complete until he’s in the big leagues. For now, he’s ready to learn in the Mexican league, get repetitions, compete and continue working his way up to the majors — hopefully with the Astros.

“Be an established MLB catcher — that’s the goal,” Salazar said.