César

Salazar

Salazar will head back to Triple-A Sugar Land after losing his spot to Collin Price and getting DFA’d on Thursday. Salazar has hit .189/.295/.216 in 89 major league plate appearances since debuting with Houston in 2023.

The 30-year-old backstop had been functioning as the team’s primary backup behind Christian Vázquez with Yainer Diaz shelved, but he was just 1-for-18 (.056) with one RBI and a 3/3 K/BB ratio in his 22 plate appearances. Collin Price was promoted from Triple-A Sugar Land to take his spot on the team’s active and 40-man rosters.

Salazar returns to the big leagues as emergency catching depth for the Astros behind Christian Vázquez after starter Yainer Diaz was scratched from Monday’s lineup with an abdominal injury. The 30-year-old backstop has appeared in 36 games at the highest level dating back to 2023.

It’s a bit unclear whether Diaz will require a trip to the injured list, but the fact that the Astros have brought up César Salazar from the minors seems to indicate that he’s not going to be available off the bench, even in an emergency. There should be an update on his status following the contest. It’ll be Christian Vázquez handling the catching duties in his absence.

Salazar cleared waivers. The 30-year-old will be a depth piece for the Astros in 2026 assuming he reports to Sugar Land. Christian Vázquez, who signed on just a few weeks ago, won the Astros’ backup catcher job.

This opens up a spot on the 40-man roster for Christian Vázquez, who made the team as a backup catcher.

Vázquez will serve as the primary caddy to starter Yainer Diaz after making the club as a non-roster invitee this spring. The trickle-down effect here is that César Salazar will be designated for assignment and exposed to waivers since he is out of minor-league options.

Vázquez languished on the open market all offseason before finally latches on with the Astros with just a few weeks leading up to Opening Day. The 35-year-old veteran is merely a part-time defensive specialist at this stage of his career and will be returning to Houston where he spent the final two months of the 2022 campaign after being dealt by the Red Sox. He’s a solid emergency option behind backup catcher César Salazar in case anything happened to starter Yainer Diaz.

The Astros had been rolling with three catchers on their active roster, but they’ll send Salazar out to make room for the promotion of Zach Cole from Triple-A on Friday night. The 29-year-old backstop has hit .231 (3-for-13) with one RBI in his limited action with the Astros this season.

Diaz is still recovering from being hit by a pitch on the left wrist during Sunday’s series finale against the Orioles. It doesn’t sound like a serious concern since he’ll be available off the bench, if needed in an emergency. It’ll be César Salazar taking over behind the plate on Wednesday night since backup catcher Victor Caratini is in concussion protocol.