Who is Cesar Salazar? Meet the young Astros catcher included in Champions' Opening Day roster

Cesar Salazar, a Mexican Major League Baseball (MLB) catcher for the Houston Astros, played well enough during Grapefruit League play to make Houston's Opening Day roster.

Cesar Salazar, the son of Cesar and Patricia Salazar, was born in Mexico on March 15, 1996 and migrated to Arizona from Mexico when he was 16 and attended Tucson's Sahuaro High School. He attended the University of Arizona and played baseball there. He then played collegiate summer baseball with the La Crosse Loggers and the Orleans Firebirds while at Arizona.

Salazar was a standout for the Wildcats from 2016 to 2018, best remembered for starting at catcher as a true freshman in 2016 when Arizona reached the Collegiate World Series finals.

The Houston Astros selected Salazar in the seventh round 222nd overall in the 2018 Major League Baseball draft.

He shared some happy and proud pictures on Instagram:

ST23 ✅-cesarsalazar29

He played for Quad Cities in 2019, but did not appear in a game in 2020 since the minor league season was canceled due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

Salazar divided the 2021 season between the High-A Asheville Tourists and the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks, with one game for the Triple-A Sugar Land Skeeters thrown in for good measure.

Cesar Salazar of the Houston Astros has been added to the team's roster.

Corey Julks and Cesar Salazar made the Astros’ opening day roster.-Chandler_Rome

Congratulations are in order for Cesar Salazar, who made the @astrosOpening Day roster!Upon his debut he will become 93rd Wildcat in @MLB history! #BearDown - ArizonaBaseball

Cesar will be on the Houston Astros' opening-day roster, the team confirmed on Tuesday afternoon. He played the previous four seasons in the Astros' minor-league system, batting.253 with a.327 on-base percentage and 33 home runs in 922 minor-league at-bats.

The player was most recognized as a brilliant two-way player, especially as a defender. He has shown some power in recent minor-league seasons, including a 979 OPS in 27 plate appearances this spring in the Grapefruit League.

In the 2022 season, Salazar hit.265 with 16 home runs and 60 RBIs between Double-A Corpus Christi and Sugar Land. He went 6-for-21 with a home run in the spring.

The Houston Astros' 2023 season began on Thursday, when Cesar and the reigning World Series champion Astros face the Chicago White Sox!