Ex-Wildcat Cesar Salazar returns for Mexican Baseball Fiesta, continues to put in the work

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 Wildcats’ 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 — good ways — 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 hasn’t changed.

He’ll be playing for his hometown team, Naranjeros de Hermosillo, in this weekend’s 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.

You’ve been in pro baseball since 2018. What has that experience been like?

A: “It’s everything I imagined. The grind, the ups, the downs, the experiences, the uncertainty. It’s beautiful. It’s hard. Everything in life, if you want to be good at it, if you want to be great at it, it’s gonna be hard. But it’s worth it. I’m enjoying it a lot.”

What’s the hardest part about it?

A: “For me personally, it’s 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 don’t have to travel every three days. But still, it’s a toll on the body.

“Not only on the body, it’s on the mind too. The mental struggles, all the emotions, when you’re going good, when you’re going bad, just learning how to balance that and learning how to neutralize that and be even every day. That’s the hardest part. (But) that’s what has allowed me to keep playing baseball and to be doing pretty good.”

How have you been able to generate more power at the plate?

A: “Continue to hammer the weight room, that’s always a priority. Also working with Luis Valenzuela, my hitting coach, on a specific approach that works for me — not an approach that works for a specific pitcher. I’m trying to stay within what I can do well. That has turned into being more patient at the plate. Getting into better hitter’s 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.

“I’m not a home-run hitter; I’m a line-drive hitter. I don’t have that kind of power. But swinging to actually do something with the 5-8, 195-pound frame I got.”

It looks like you’ve widened your stance and really minimized your stride.

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A: “I was playing around with things that would work for me. That’s 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.

“I 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. I’m talking to Luis: ‘I’m just gonna minimize everything.’ That has stuck with me ever since. It’s been working. I feel more grounded. I feel like I’m putting all my weight into my swing.”

You mentioned an accident. What happened?

A: “I got hit in the face and had to get jaw reconstruction. I missed a month and a half of the season.

“It was kind of my fault. I was catching a ‘pen before a game. And I was wearing the two-piece mask, the traditional mask. You don’t 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 don’t have any coverage.”

Yikes. That must have been painful.

A: “It was more of the shock. I was wired shut for freaking four weeks. Couldn’t eat. Liquid diet. It was bad.”

You made it back, and you had your best season this year (mostly with Double-A Corpus Christi). What’s next?

A: “My plan is to make it to ‘The Show’ next year. I’m fully confident that I can help somebody, that I can be a good asset for a team. But as of now, I’m just gonna focus on what’s in front of me. Just enjoying the time. This career is not a long career.”

What’s your favorite memory from your time here?

A: “Baseball memory, going to the World Series. Memory overall, just the friendships that I made, the relationships I made. I’m still in close contact with my main guys from U of A. That’s something special.”

You had the winning hit at Mississippi State that sent the Wildcats to Omaha. What do you remember about that moment?

A: “I remember Coach Brown (Sergio Brown, the first-base coach) yelling at me, ‘Touch first!’ Because I was too excited, too blacked out. I was just running with my arms up. I’m like, ‘Oh, shoot. I gotta touch first. If not, I’m gonna be out.’ But then the dogpile and the celebration after. It was cool. It was very cool.”

You guys came within a hit of winning the whole thing. You got hurt in the final game and couldn’t finish. Are you still frustrated about that?

A: “I was for a long time. But I’ve made peace with it. I believe that things happen for a reason. What the reason may be, I don’t know. But it is what it is.”

Were you surprised that your former coach, Jay Johnson, took the LSU job?

A: “Yes 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 it’s a job, and he’s 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.”