César Salazar #18

Played shortstop as a youth player in Mexico before moving to Tucson, Ariz., from Hermosillo, Mexico, at the age of 15...Moved to Tucson and made the switch to a full-time catcher at the advice of his mentor and travel ball coach, Luis Valenzuela, to increase his chance of receiving a college baseball scholarship…Salazar moved in with a host family in Tucson and credits watching a lot of TV with helping him learn the English language, as well as American culture...Went undrafted out of Sahuaro HS (Tucson, Ariz.)...Was eligible for just 18 games throughout his high school career due to Arizona Interscholastic Association transfer restrictions...Batted .613 with four home runs and 16 RBI in those 18 games, all coming his senior year...Played collegiately at the University of Arizona, where he hit .339 (65-for-189) with 25 runs, 11 doubles, one triple, four home runs, 42 RBI and a .903 OPS as a junior in 2018...Named to the All-Pac 12 First Team that season...Recorded a caught stealing in 16-of-28 stolen base attempts (57.1%)…Selected by Houston in the seventh round of the June 2018 Draft...Signed by Astros scout Aaron Tassano...Made the first start of his MLB career on April 5, 2023 vs. DET, which coincided with the birthday of his father, César Salazar Sr., who had traveled from his home in Hermosillo to be in attendance...Upon his debut, Salazar became the sixth native of Hermosillo to reach the Majors, joining RHP Francisco Barrios, RHP Elmer Dessens, IF Erubiel Durazo, OF Luis García and IF Isaac Paredes...Is one of 12 Mexican-born players to appear in the Majors with the Astros and was one of 16 Mexican-born players to play in the Majors in 2024...Received his third-career invitation to Major League Spring Training camp in 2024...Is signed to a one-year contract for the 2025 season.

2024

Hit .320 with two doubles, eight RBI and a .787 OPS in 12 games for the Astros...Had three stints with the Astros on the year (June 11-July 22, Sept. 1-4, Sept. 17-end of the season)…Delivered a clutch performance off the bench in June 19 at CWS, going 2-for-2 with two RBI after entering for the injured Victor Caratini...Was the first multi-hit and multi-RBI game of his career...Recorded an RBI in four straight games from July 2-11 for the first time in his career...Appeared in 78 games with Triple-A Sugar Land, batting .253 (66-for-261) with 13 doubles, eight homers, 50 RBI and a .788 OPS...Was named the Astros' Upper Level Minor League Player of the Month for August...During the month, he batted .263 (15-for-57) with seven runs, one double, one home run, 10 RBI, 11 walks and a .733 OPS in 18 games at Sugar Land...Made the 2024 Wild Card roster but didn’t make a postseason appearance.

2023

Made his first career Opening Day roster as the club's third catcher, along with Martín Maldonado and Yainer Diaz...Batted .111 (2-for-18) with a walk and a run scored in 13 games across two stints with the Astros...Made his Major League debut as a pinch-hitter on April 2 vs. Chicago (AL)...Drew a walk and came around to score...Recorded the first hit of his Major League career as a pinch-hitter on April 16 vs. TEX...Followed that with a pinch-hit single on April 17 vs. TEX...According to Elias, he is the first Astro to record their first two Major League hits as a pinch-hitter since IF Matt Duffy also did so on Sept. 19 and Sept. 23 of 2015...Was optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land on June 4...Was recalled to the Major League roster on June 9 and then optioned back to Triple-A Sugar Land on June 21...Batted .191 (33-for-173) with two home runs, 16 RBI and eight doubles in 57 games with Triple-A Sugar Land...Was a member of the Taxi Squad throughout the club's postseason run. 

2022

During the 2022 season, he split time between Double A Corpus Christi (85g) and Triple A Sugar Land (17g)...notched a .265 batting average (97-for-366) with 58 runs, 18 doubles, 16 home runs, 60 RBI, eight stolen bases and a .783 OPS (.338 OBP/.445 SLG).

2021

In 2021, he played in 56 games between High A Asheville, Double-A Corpus Christi and Triple-A Sugar Land...he batted .251 (48-for-191) with 11 home runs, 32 RBI, eight walks with an .830 OPS.

2020

Did not appear in a game in 2020 due to the pandemic-shortened season.

2019

Spent the entire 2019 season in Low A Quad Cities, batted .262 (65-for-248) with 16 doubles, and 39 RBI in 71 games...was named a Midseason All-Star in the Midwest League.