Four months after he last played with the Arizona Wildcats, Cesar Salazar will once again take the field with them. But he wonโt be playing with his former teammates โ heโll be taking the field against them.
Salazar will be playing for the team he grew up rooting for: the Hermosillo Naranjeros.
โIt means a lot. Itโs a team I grew up watching,โ 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. โItโs a team Iโve seen since I was a little kid. Right now, wearing their colors โ itโs pretty special. Iโll be able to, hopefully, play in front of all my friends and family.โ
Cesar Salazar
The Houston Astros drafted Salazar, a Sahuaro High School product, in the seventh round of this yearโs 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 Astrosโ low-level minor league affiliates.
Salazar believes heโll be able to help the Naranjeros beat Arizona.
โI mean, I know all the UA strategies, so theyโre not going to fool us,โ Salazar said. โThatโs for sure.โ
Salazar was born and raised in Hermosillo before moving to Tucson at age 16. His familyโs home is 10 minutes from Estadio Sonora, where the Naranjeros play.
When he turned pro, Salazar knew exactly where he should play winter ball.
โI knew some of the people from there,โ Salazar said. โAs soon as I knew I got drafted they took me. Itโs easier with them since Iโm from Hermosillo; they can just draft me automatically. They donโt have to wait. As soon as I got drafted, they pretty much drafted me, too.โ
Salazar spent two weeks in West Palm Beach, Florida, as part of the Astrosโ instructional league. The Astros have set no restrictions on his winter-league usage. He said he hopes to stay โthe whole seasonโ 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. Itโs the day heโs been looking forward to the most.
Cesar Salazar starred at the UA for three years before the Houston Astros drafted him in June in the seventh round.
Seeing his former coaches and teammates again is a bonus.
โI get butterflies thinking about it โ playing with a team I grew up watching and playing against a team thatโs given me the best three years of my life so far,โ Salazar said. โIt doesnโt get any better. Itโs going to be something special Iโll never forget.โ
But even though it seems his career has come full circle, Salazar is just getting started.
Salazarโs journey wonโt be complete until heโs in the big leagues. For now, heโs ready to learn in the Mexican league, get repetitions, compete and continue working his way up to the majors โ hopefully with the Astros.
โBe an established MLB catcher โ thatโs the goal,โ Salazar said.
