When he steps onto the field for Game 2 of the Vamos a Tucson Mexican Baseball Fiesta on Thursday, Cesar Salazar will encounter a familiar face in the opposite dugout.
Dave Lawn was the pitching coach at Arizona when Salazar served as the Wildcatsโ starting catcher from 2016-18. Lawn is the only coach left from that era, which included a run to the College World Series finals. Less than five years after Salazar left the program to turn pro, almost everything else has changed.
In some ways โ good ways โ Salazar has changed too.
Salazar, who just completed his fourth season in the Houston Astros organization, hit a career-high 16 home runs in 2022. He hit six in three years at Arizona.
Salazar has become stronger physically and mentally. You have to be both to endure the grind of minor-league baseball.
Salazar, 26, still has his sights set on the big leagues. He remains dedicated to his craft, as serious about it as ever. In that sense, Salazar hasnโt changed.
Heโll be playing for his hometown team, Naranjeros de Hermosillo, in this weekendโs event at Kino Stadium. The Hermosillo-Arizona matchup will follow the 5 p.m. opener between Obregon and Navojoa.
Salazar discussed life in the pros, batting adjustments, a scary injury and his time at the UA in a phone interview with the Star. The conversation has been lightly edited.
Youโve been in pro baseball since 2018. What has that experience been like?
A: โItโs everything I imagined. The grind, the ups, the downs, the experiences, the uncertainty. Itโs beautiful. Itโs hard. Everything in life, if you want to be good at it, if you want to be great at it, itโs gonna be hard. But itโs worth it. Iโm enjoying it a lot.โ
Whatโs the hardest part about it?
A: โFor me personally, itโs how beat (up) my body feels after a long road trip. I was in the worst travel league (the Texas League) in minor-league baseball last year, even though they changed the format. We go to a place and play one week. We donโt have to travel every three days. But still, itโs a toll on the body.
โNot only on the body, itโs on the mind too. The mental struggles, all the emotions, when youโre going good, when youโre going bad, just learning how to balance that and learning how to neutralize that and be even every day. Thatโs the hardest part. (But) thatโs what has allowed me to keep playing baseball and to be doing pretty good.โ
How have you been able to generate more power at the plate?
A: โContinue to hammer the weight room, thatโs always a priority. Also working with Luis Valenzuela, my hitting coach, on a specific approach that works for me โ not an approach that works for a specific pitcher. Iโm trying to stay within what I can do well. That has turned into being more patient at the plate. Getting into better hitterโs counts more often, laying off some borderline pitches that I would swing (at) in years prior. Just creating a more specific plan. And instead of just swinging to get a line drive over the shortstop, swinging to make some damage.
โIโm not a home-run hitter; Iโm a line-drive hitter. I donโt have that kind of power. But swinging to actually do something with the 5-8, 195-pound frame I got.โ
It looks like youโve widened your stance and really minimized your stride.
A: โI was playing around with things that would work for me. Thatโs what I do now. Just put my foot down early, as early as I can, and I try to watch the ball for as long as I can.
โI had a little accident last year at the beginning of spring training. When I got shipped to High-A when I finally got cleared, I was striking out a lot. Iโm talking to Luis: โIโm just gonna minimize everything.โ That has stuck with me ever since. Itโs been working. I feel more grounded. I feel like Iโm putting all my weight into my swing.โ
You mentioned an accident. What happened?
A: โI got hit in the face and had to get jaw reconstruction. I missed a month and a half of the season.
โIt was kind of my fault. I was catching a โpen before a game. And I was wearing the two-piece mask, the traditional mask. You donโt get any coverage on the sides. The pitcher spiked (the ball); it was a 50-footer, a slider. Instead of blocking it, I tried to pick it. I turned my head, and it just drilled me in the only spot that I donโt have any coverage.โ
Yikes. That must have been painful.
A: โIt was more of the shock. I was wired shut for freaking four weeks. Couldnโt eat. Liquid diet. It was bad.โ
You made it back, and you had your best season this year (mostly with Double-A Corpus Christi). Whatโs next?
A: โMy plan is to make it to โThe Showโ next year. Iโm fully confident that I can help somebody, that I can be a good asset for a team. But as of now, Iโm just gonna focus on whatโs in front of me. Just enjoying the time. This career is not a long career.โ
Whatโs your favorite memory from your time here?
A: โBaseball memory, going to the World Series. Memory overall, just the friendships that I made, the relationships I made. Iโm still in close contact with my main guys from U of A. Thatโs something special.โ
You had the winning hit at Mississippi State that sent the Wildcats to Omaha. What do you remember about that moment?
A: โI remember Coach Brown (Sergio Brown, the first-base coach) yelling at me, โTouch first!โ Because I was too excited, too blacked out. I was just running with my arms up. Iโm like, โOh, shoot. I gotta touch first. If not, Iโm gonna be out.โ But then the dogpile and the celebration after. It was cool. It was very cool.โ
You guys came within a hit of winning the whole thing. You got hurt in the final game and couldnโt finish. Are you still frustrated about that?
A: โI was for a long time. But Iโve made peace with it. I believe that things happen for a reason. What the reason may be, I donโt know. But it is what it is.โ
Were you surprised that your former coach, Jay Johnson, took the LSU job?
A: โYes and no. I saw how much he loved U of A, how much he cared for us, cared for the city, cared for the fans. But at the same time itโs a job, and heโs gonna take whatever fits best for him and his family. I was very happy that he got that opportunity. I called him right away. It seemed like it was the best decision he could have made.โ
