Getting to Know Quad Cities Catcher Cesar Salazar

With the recent drafting of catchers Korey Lee and C.J. Stubbs and the evolving talent of several other catchers in the Astros system, the catching depth has gone from more than a bit thin to fairly robust. For me, one of the more intriguing catching prospects is Cesar Salazar, a Mexican-born catcher who was drafted by the Astros in the 7th round in 2018 out of the University of Arizona. Salazar's excellent defense was the reason he was drafted, but the Midwest League All-Star has shown a solid bat in 2019 as well, hitting .262/.323/.371 with 16 doubles, one triple and three home runs through 71 games with Low A Quad Cities.

Cesar Salazar - July 2019

Photo by Jayne Hansen

When I talked with Salazar in late July, I asked him what was clicking for him this season. He said, "I feel like just trying to do the same thing offensively. What was hurting me, especially last year I tried a bunch of different stuff. I tried to make changes real quick instead of just feeling them out first. This year in spring training, my hitting coaches helped me a lot, just refining my swing and helped me realize what works for me and what doesn't work for me. Rafael Pena, our hitting coach, has been doing a really good job with me, with keeping me on track, a trustful pair of eyes on what I'm doing offensively. And defensively, I feel pretty comfortable with my defense. I just try to take charge, help my pitchers, try to be the best leader I can be."

Asked to give a scouting report on himself, Salazar told me, "I think being a leader out there on the field. I take a lot of pride in working really good with my pitchers. That could be on a scouting report. He knows how to handle a pitching staff. He knows how to call pitches. He knows how to make a pitcher comfortable by receiving, blocking, etc. I think for hitting ... good hand-eye, good contact, just has to improve power. That's going to be my main thing to work on during the offseason, a little more weight, try to get a little more juice on the bat. Hitting the ball hard more consistently. That's probably the scouting report."

It was Salazar's leadership and his take charge attitude that I quickly recognized in him when I first saw him in Tri-City last season. It is a trait that is appreciated by coaches and pitchers alike. Salazar's Quad Cities teammate RHP Brett Daniels said of Salazar, "I love throwing to him. I threw to him in Cape Cod and then last summer and now this is my third season with him. I love when Sally catches me. First of all, he knows me. I've shook him off twice this year. Both times they've led to hits. So I don't do that. Every time he always comes up and says, 'This is why I did it. I saw something.' I just trust him. He gets me a lot of pitches and he knows when to get on me. I think last time I threw to him he came out there and he said, 'This isn't you. Come on, make an adjustment.' And somehow I always get out of a jam when he does it." Another pitcher on the squad, RHP Felipe Tejada, was very complimentary of Salazar's ability to get rid of a ball fast, a trait that is evidenced in his 37% caught stealing rate for the season to date.

In response to those comments, Salazar said, "I think I have a pretty good idea what I'm doing and I think I there's a reason why I call pitches. I like to think that. I put thought process into every pitch I call. It's nice having pitchers like that who have that much trust in a catcher. I'm grateful that I've shown them that they can trust me. It's super nice and good to hear those two good pitchers talking good about me."

More praise came from Quad Cities Pitching Coach Erick Abreu, "Sally is wonderful because he came with already a lot of knowledge from college. He just came trying to get better. He's always asking questions, how he can do his job better, how he can help these pitchers the most. And he's a wonderful, wonderful catcher. And also he helps out the team a lot with his bat. I cannot ask more from him." And from Manager Ray Hernandez, "He does everything well. He's a really good catcher behind the plate. And he's really starting to find his swing. Pena's got him really going. He looks the part right now and I think he's probably ready for the next challenge here pretty soon."

Salazar knows what he will need to do to keep moving forward, "I feel like I need to keep improving my offense. My offense will be what separates me from getting where I want to be or not getting where I want to be. I know what I can bring to the table defensively and I think I just need to keep working on my offense, keep developing and keep trusting the process, trusting my hitting coaches and just keep working my butt off."

Knowing that Salazar was born in Mexico, but attended high school and college in Arizona, I asked to hear more about his background. "I was born and raised in Hermosillo. I went to Tuscon my second half of my sophomore year in high school. I played for a travel team since I was 12 years old. It was run by Luis Valenzuela. He's my second dad. He's the one that helped me go through the process of finding where to stay in Tuscon, going to high school, trying to get me showcased for college or pro scouts or whatever. And that was my dream. I really wanted to go to state just to get a scholarship to go to college and start my education," said Salazar.

Salazar continued, "One of my dreams is fulfilled. I lived the college experience. Those were the best three years of my life. I was born and raised in Mexico. 16 years old, I moved to Tuscon. The host family that I lived with in Tuscon, they didn't speak any Spanish so I had to put myself in that tough and uncomfortable situation to actually learn the language. It was a tough year, year and a half to learn it, but it paid off. My family is still in Hermosillo. They were actually here last week. We had nine games at home and they saw that and wanted to come watch me play so that was really refreshing seeing them. I hadn't seen them since February so that was pretty cool, pretty neat of them to do that."

The Quad Cities team had a rough spring in which the vast majority of their home games were played on the road due to flood waters surrounding their home ballpark which is situated on the Mississippi River. Of the early season, Salazar said, "It was an experience. I'm not going to lie. It was tough not being able to have any games at home, play in front of your home crowd. It is what it is. We just went to every single ballpark and tried to play as best as we can. I don't know how to explain it. We just tried to do our job. Yes, it sucked, whatever, but in the ballpark, we'd just focus on what's in front of us, which is the next game, which is practice, which is the weight room. I think we did a really good job. I think it showed because of the first half season that we had. But I think we just sucked it in. We still played baseball. This is what we dream of doing. And we did it."

Now that the team is back home, Salazar is enjoying the experience, "Good crowd. The facilities are awesome. The locker room is fantastic. The weight room is good. Our city is good. Like it's really comfortable. It's nice coming from Tri-City. Tri-City gets a really good amount of fans. You really feel their support. And coming into Quad Cities, the fans showing the same amount of support. We get pretty good crowds every night. It's pretty fun."

Salazar calls himself a "social person" who you won't find staying in and playing Fortnite like some of the other guys and someone who enjoys doing things with other people. Given the opportunity, he says, "I like to go hiking. I did that a lot when I was in Arizona. I play tennis when I'm back home. I'm a huge tennis fan so I would go with my dad and just swing the racket for a little bit. Just spend time with my family. Spend time with my friends. I did enjoy that when I was back home. I would love to go fishing. I haven't been since my sophomore summer. I would like to do that a little more because I really enjoyed it but we don't really have a place to fish back home."

In the offseason, you will likely find Salazar playing tennis or racquetball with his dad. "I love those two sports. I love watching it on TV. It's something that refreshes my mind when I'm back home. I can go with my dad or somebody and just play tennis and swing the racket for a little bit."

It turns out that his love for tennis almost took Salazar in another direction, "When I was 15 years old, I almost gave up baseball to play tennis. I was a good tennis player. I was actually runner up in state in Mexico. I was pretty good. I had this debate for like a month. What should I do? What should I do? What should I do? I like tennis, but I like baseball. And I finally realized that tennis wasn't going to get me very far in my sports life. I think I made the right decision."

I would say that tennis's loss is baseball's gain. Salazar's intelligence, confidence, talent, passion and leadership qualities make him a perfect fit at catcher and will carry him a very long way.

Thank you for your time, Cesar, and best of luck as the season continues.

Other recent interviews
Felipe Tejada
Brett Daniels

Getting to Know Quad Cities RHP Brett Daniels

RHP Brett Daniels, drafted in the 17th round in 2018 out of the University of North Carolina got off to a great start in his first professional season with short season A Tri-City last year, going 3-0 with a 1.62 ERA and a 0.840 WHIP in 33.1 innings. He has gone on to show that those early results were not a fluke as he has compiled a 1.87 ERA and a 1.220 WHIP in 82 innings for Low A Quad Cities in 2019. A side trip to AA Corpus Christi in April as a temporary fill-in elevates his season numbers a bit, putting him at a 2.30 ERA and 1.267 WHIP over a total of 90 innings (44 BB:91 K).

Brett Daniels - July 2019

Photo by Jayne Hansen

I asked Daniels about his success this season and he gave a lot of credit to his team, "A big part has been our defense. I would say they're picking me up in some big spots, getting me out of a lot of jams here recently. Earlier in the year I think I was able to put away a lot of guys, strike out a decent bit of guys. Then I hit a little bump in the road, started walking some people, but I was still striking guys out, getting out of jams, like bases loaded or a couple guys on. But now the defense is helping me out. I'm not getting as many strikeouts right now, but the balls that they're putting in play, they're making outs." As a side note, Daniels walked 18 batters in 23.2 innings in June while walking only 20 batters in the remaining 58.1 innings he has pitched with the Quad Cities team.

Quad Cities Pitching Coach Erick Abreu was quick to credit Daniels himself with his successful season. "What I like most about him is his work ethic. He's very consistent with his routine, He knows what to work on. He comes everyday to the field and just does his job. He's very consistent. He came a long way improving his delivery and pitch shapes and he's just a real good kid," said Abreu.

Daniels throws fastball, changeup, slider and curveball with the changeup being his best offspeed offering. His fastball sits in the low 90's right now and Daniels said of the fastball, "It's a little harder now than it was at the beginning of the season. Tweaked some things and worked on some things and finally getting some velo back."

Quad Cities Manager Ray Hernandez would like to see Daniels get a little bit stronger, but has been very happy with what he's seen out of Daniels this season. "He's just really mature. He's gone through North Carolina so he's a college guy and he makes good pitches. He knows how to work through lineups and he's been everything we've needed when he gets the ball," said Hernandez.

Daniels's college career at UNC didn't exactly go according to plan with a ball to the elbow and a hurt back derailing parts of his freshman and sophomore years, but things eventually worked out. Daniels described it, "Come back in my sophomore spring, get an opportunity the third week in and I get out of a bases loaded jam. Come in two days later. Same thing, bases loaded, no outs. Get out of a jam. After that, I pitched two or three times a weekend for the rest of my career. It started off weird and then after that, it picked up. I started getting confidence and just went from there." Primarily a reliever in college, Daniels has segued into more of a starting role since signing with the Astros last season.

When asked to give a scouting report on himself, Daniels told me, "I would say strength is being able to throw all my pitches for strikes in pretty much any count. That's what we preach here. Being able to throw any pitch 3-1. You don't want to just lay a fastball in there. And just pound the zone, other than that little bump where I started walking people, for the most part, I've thrown strikes. What I need to work on is increasing velo, also putting guys away." As far as intangibles go, he said, "I don't show a lot of emotion out there. I'm pretty poised. I don't let things get to my head. I just try to stay next pitch."

Quad Cities catcher Cesar Salazar obliged me with a scouting report on Daniels as well, "He really knows how to use, especially with his fast ball, the top and bottom of the zone. He uses his spin as a good weapon because he's got good spin with his fastball. He can get a lot of strikeouts with a fastball up, paints the bottom of the zone too. Offspeed he can throw for strikes whenever he wants, especially his changeup. That's his bread and butter. He has probably one of the better changeups that I've ever caught. Like I said, he's not afraid to throw it."

As far as what Daniels feels he needs to work on, he said, "I think right now, just being able to put guys away, two strikes. Right now I'm leaving the ball over the plate a little bit too much. 0-2, 1-2, 2-2 really. And then just developing all my pitches, making them better. Definitely the slider is the main focus right now. Just pretty much making all my pitches better, increasing velo ... I think everybody wants to do that."

During off days during the season and over the offseason, you will frequently find Daniels on the golf course. Last offseason, he worked in construction, a lot of it helping to clean up following the hurricanes that affected his home state of North Carolina in 2018, but although it paid well, he admits that an easier job would be welcomed for the coming winter. In the meantime, I feel certain that a promotion to Fayetteville would also be welcome to get him closer to family and to his girlfriend there.

Daniels talked a little about the early part of the season when the Quad Cities team was temporarily homeless because of the Mississippi River flood waters surrounding Modern Woodmen Park, "It was definitely something I've never done before. You just kind of have to make do and be positive. The coaches were great about it. If we needed a lower day because we just drove overnight and then next morning pick back up, drive another hour or two someplace else, they'll give us a low day. They were good about that. I thought the biggest thing was working out. I think that was one of the toughest things, not having our home weight room. And also you're not able to really get into a routine of things. Everything's kind of changing every day, every week. So now, I think that's the biggest thing that's helped a lot of us is getting in that routine."

Daniels may like a good routine, but he also seems pretty comfortable just going with the flow. In speaking about his Management and Society major from UNC, he admitted that he wasn't sure what he wanted to do with it, "I didn't have a Plan B. People asked me that all the time in college and I was like, I don't know. We'll figure it out when we get there." Daniels laid-back attitude, his North Carolina accent, his good humor and his modest self-appraisal combine to make him very likable. Coupled with his excellent season, he is definitely someone who is very easy to root for.

Thank you for your time, Brett, and best of luck as the season continues.

Another recent interview
Felipe Tejada

Getting to Know Quad Cities RHP Felipe Tejada

When I was in Tri-City last season, I couldn't help but notice RHP Felipe Tejada. There was a lot of down time because of rain delays during that trip and Tejada filled the void with his larger than life personality. I joked that I could follow him around all day with a camera.

Felipe Tejada - July 2018

Photo by Jayne Hansen

This season Tejada has stood out for me for a different reason. In 15 appearances (six starts) for the Quad Cities River Bandits, Tejada is 6-0 with a 2.25 ERA, a 1.150 WHIP and has held opposing hitters to a .184 batting average. He has walked 30 and struck out 68 in 60 innings of work.

Felipe Tejada - July 2019

Photo by Jayne Hansen

The 21-year old Tejada was signed by the Astros out of the Dominican Republic in September 2014 and Quad Cities Pitching Coach Erick Abreu (formerly a coach in the DSL) has seen him from the start, "I've had Tejada for the last four years. Another kid that came a long way from the Dominican Republic. He's such a hard worker. He got strong. He improved his velo. He added his sidearm slider and two-seam. He competes really well. Big heart out there. Really good kid too. He is very positive always. Always trying to help his teammates. Always trying to get better."

One of the keys to Tejada's great season is his vast pitch repertoire. Quad Cities Manager Ray Hernandez said of Tejada, "Tejada's been really good. He's put a few (good games) together now. He can do everything." Hernandez joked, "He's got 15 pitches he can go through from three different arm slots. No, he's got two arm slots. He's got a lot of pitches, got a lot of things he can do to right handed hitters and left handed hitters. He's developed really well with Abreu."

I also asked Quad Cities catcher Cesar Salazar to weigh in with what he thought of Tejada. He told me, "He throws a bunch of pitches. He has a full, full arsenal of pitches. He has two arm angles and he pretty much masters both arm angles. He can throw strikes from both of them and he can throw all five pitches for strikes. And he's not afraid to throw them in any count. I think that works a lot in his favor. He has a lot of confidence in his pitches and he likes to attack the strike zone a lot. I think the ability for him to throw all five pitches in any count, that makes him so good."

Now, on to the interview ...

Thank you for your time, Felipe, and best of luck as your season continues!!

Other recent interviews
Franny Cobos and Juan Pablo Lopez
Peyton Battenfield
AJ Lee

Meet the 2019 Quad Cities River Bandits

And last but not least in WTHB's season-opening "Meet the Team" series... the Quad Cities River Bandits!

Photo from Chris Creamer's SportsLogos.Net

SOCIAL MEDIA

Official website - RiverBandits.com

Twitter - @QCRiverBandits

Instagram - @qcriverbandits

OTHER TWITTER ACCOUNTS OF NOTE

Rich Guill, team photographer - @QCBanditPhotog

Steve Batterson, sports reporter, Quad-City Times - @sbatt79

The Quad Cities is a collection of four (well, actually five) cities on the Mississippi River bordering Iowa and Illinois; Bettendorf and Davenport are the principal cities on the Iowa side, while the Illinois half of the Quad Cities consists of Rock Island and Moline.

The River Bandits play at Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport, located on the banks of the Mississippi. Like Whataburger Field, Modern Woodmen Park provides stunning views of a bridge. In this case, it's the Centennial Bridge, which connects Davenport and Rock Island. Quad Cities is a member of the Midwest League and they play in the Western Division with Cedar Rapids (Twins), Peoria (Cardinals), Kane County (D-Backs), Beloit (A's), Burlington (Angels), and Clinton (Marlins; formerly a Mariners affiliate).

Unfortunately, the area is susceptible to flooding, and Quad Cities' home opener, which had been scheduled for Opening Night, has been moved to Burlington, which is located further down the river.

Quad Cities' pitchers were absolutely filthy in 2018 as it seemed as though they were striking out everyone they faced. The majority of Tri-City's pitching staff, a group that struck out a little over ten per nine innings last season, is heading to Iowa and they're hoping to continue racking up the Ks.

Although not many of the pitchers on the current roster aren't quite on the prospect radar just yet, there are a few intriguing guys like Willy Collado. While Bryan Abreu commanded most of the attention last season, Collado was also excellent out of the bullpen. Could he make a leap similar to Abreu's in 2019? 

Mark Moclair was downright scary with Tri-City... when he wasn't walking everyone (9.9 BB/9), he was mowing them down to the tune of 15.8 strikeouts per nine innings. If he can tame himself a little bit while retaining his lights-out strikeout ability, he could really break out. Austin Hansen was downright unhittable in his pro debut and he could also be a breakout candidate in 2019.

Luis Garcia excelled in the River Bandits' rotation last year and he's looking to be the next in a long line of success stories from the Astros' Latin American program. 

As for the position players... Ross Adolph, one of three players that the Astros acquired from the Mets in the J.D. Davis trade, will make his full-season debut with the Banditos. We can probably also expect to see Luis Santana for a spell later this year. Andy Piñeda brings blazing speed to the table; if there's anybody in the system who is faster than Myles Straw, Piñeda might be the man. 

Jeremy Peña may be a recent draftee but he's already in the discussion of top defensive players in the organization. He has the MLB pedigree and he'll look to become more well-rounded on offense as he progresses through the system. Alex McKenna will start the season on the injured list but had a fine pro debut. Hopefully, he can pick up right where he left off. Enmanuel Valdez has shown some pop in his bat at the lower levels. As the (current) youngest player on the Quad Cities roster, however, he'll get a bit of a reprieve in terms of carrying an offense, which should give him time to refine his game at the plate.

Oldest - Scott Schreiber (October 13, 1995)
Youngest - Enmanuel Valdez (December 28, 1998)

PITCHERS

Asterisk - left-handed

Well, there aren't any left-handed pitchers on the Quad Cities roster right now.

Humberto Castellanos - International free agent (Mexico), 2015; played with Tri-City and Quad Cities in 2018

Willy Collado - International free agent (Dominican Republic), 2016; Quad Cities

Brett Conine - 11th round, 2018 draft (Cal State Fullerton); Tri-City

Devin Conn - 19th round, 2018 draft (Nova Southeastern); Tri-City

Brett Daniels - 17th round, 2018 draft (North Carolina); Tri-City

Cody Deason - 5th round, 2018 draft (Arizona); Tri-City

Shawn Dubin - 13th round, 2018 draft (Georgetown [Kentucky]); Tri-City

R.J. Freure - 6th round, 2018 draft (Pittsburgh); Tri-City

Luis Garcia - International free agent (Venezuela), 2017; Tri-City/Quad Cities

Austin Hansen - 8th round, 2018 draft (Oklahoma); Tri-City

Mark Moclair - 12th round, 2018 draft (University of Tampa); Tri-City

Nivaldo Rodriguez - International free agent (Venezuela), 2016; Tri-City

Matt Ruppenthal - 17th round, 2017 draft (Vanderbilt); GCL/Tri-City

POSITION PLAYERS

Asterisk - bats left-handed

Italics - switch-hitter

Catchers

Oscar Campos - International free agent (Venezuela), 2014; Tri-City

Alex Holderbach - 16th round, 2018 draft (Eastern Kentucky); Tri-City

César Salazar* - 7th round, 2018 draft (Arizona); Tri-City/Quad Cities

Infielders

Trey Dawson - 15th round, 2018 draft (Kentucky); Tri-City/Quad Cities

David Hensley - 26th round, 2018 draft (San Diego State); Quad Cities

Jeremy Peña - 3rd round, 2018 draft (Maine); Tri-City

Scott Schreiber - 9th round, 2018 draft (Nebraska); Quad Cities

Enmanuel Valdez* - International free agent (Dominican Republic), 2015; Tri-City

Outfielders

Ross Adolph* - Acquired from Mets (along with Luis Santana and Scott Manea) via trade for J.D. Davis, 2019; Brooklyn (Mets)

Marty Costes - 22nd round, 2018 draft (Maryland); Tri-City/Quad Cities

Jonathan Lacroix* - 12th round, 2017 draft (Seminole State College); Quad Cities

Andy Piñeda* - International free agent (Dominican Republic), 2014; Tri-City/Corpus Christi

Interview with Quad Cities/Astros RHP Jairo Solis and C Ruben Castro

For the last few years, I've worked with Doris Gonzalez, the Astros Supervisor of Education, Acculturation and Language Development on getting a few of the Latin players in the system used to doing interviews in English. She will let me know what players she feels are up to the challenge and I will record a short (and hopefully painless) video interview with a couple of players. On my recent trip to Quad Cities, I paired C Ruben Castro and RHP Jairo Solis.

Ruben Castro - July 2018

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Castro was drafted out of Puerto Rico in the 19th round in 2014. He has hit .260/.393/.365 for Quad Cities this season and boasts a 41% caught stealing rate. Quad Cities Pitching Coach Graham Johnson said of Castro, "From an offensive standpoint he came up and gave us a shot of energy into the lineup. He can run a little bit, obviously hit from the left side so adds another dimension for us in that way. Then went into a little bit of a lull, but of late has really come on and really had some good ABs. Even when he's not putting the ball in play, he's having some quality ABs and when he is, he's striking the ball well. From a defensive standpoint he works extremely hard. The big thing for him is receiving. That's going to be a big thing for him of how good he gets on that part of the game, but (he) blocks well, throws really well."

Jairo Solis - July 2018

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Solis signed with the Astros out of Venezuela as a 16-year old in 2016 and cruised through three levels in his first season in 2017. And at three years younger than the average River Bandits pitcher, Solis has (with a couple of notable exceptions) done quite well for himself. In 11 games (10 starts), he has a 3.67 ERA and a 1.704 WHIP (41.2 IP). Back out his first outing and his last outing and that drops dramatically to a 1.66 ERA and a 1.421 WHIP in 38 innings. Not bad at all for someone who doesn't turn 19 until December. Johnson said of Solis, "Very young and at the same time extremely gifted, extremely talented and that's obviously why he's here. As soon as he got into the Astros organization, they saw some very quick development and that's why he shot right to us. The big thing for him is he's got the power fastball and the offspeed is there, but it's more about how to use and when to use the offspeed. That is going to be the key to unlocking what he can really do on the mound."

Without further ado, here is the interview. I apologize for the sound quality; there was a TON of background noise. Enjoy!

Quad Cities Final Thoughts

Every time I take a minor league trip, I collect odds and ends that don't make it into any of my interviews, plus I take a TON of pictures. So consider this a wrap-up of my July trip to Quad Cities.

ODDS AND ENDS

I was already impressed with what I saw from RHP Robert Corniel, and then his teammate Patrick Sandoval heaped praise on Corniel's fastball, so I asked Quad Cities Manager Russ Steinhorn to weigh in on the 22-year old righty who is in his third season following Tommy John surgery. Steinhorn told me, "He was with me down in the Dominican last year all season and he definitely grew up last year a lot. We saw a lot of flashes of him having success with some good stuff. And then they gave him a chance to come to the States this year for extended and I guess he just took in all the information and worked hard with those guys down there. It just shows that if you perform and you get better, then you're going to get your opportunities and he's taken advantage of them along the way and he's just trying to take advantage of them here."

And of skinny lefty bullpen arm Salvador Montano, Steinhorn said, "He's really turned the corner. Last year wasn't a great year for him. I know he had some difficult conversations in Spring Trainig and Extended. A light bulb turned off and that's been it. It's been great to see that. He had an outing where (in the first half), he came in out of the bullpen with bases loaded and no outs. We're up by one ... on the road ... in the ninth ... and he struck out the side. And that's all you need for your confidence and he's been rolling. He's putting in the work everyday. He's got a great personality."

On RHP Yohan Ramirez: "He got a little stint in Corpus just to fill in and threw like 6 shutout innings. [Close. He allowed one run in 4.2 IP.]  He's got electric stuff. That's a guy to keep an eye on. He was up to 98 or 99. He's always in the dugout even when he's not playing, trying to root his teammates on," said Steinhorn. He went on to say that Ramirez reminds him of Jandel Gustave since he throws hard and has a good slider. "They kind of have the same build and quick arm. We'll see where it takes him. He's another guy to be excited about."

If you missed any of my interviews from the trip, you can find them here:
Marcos Almonte and Abdiel Saldana

Patrick Sandoval
Carson LaRue
Troy Sieber
Daz Cameron

Josh Rojas
Ronnie Dawson

Russ Steinhorn

I'm not sure why, but Ronnie Dawson's interview didn't get a lot of clicks and it should have. Not only is he having a fine season (.272/.362/.440 with 23 doubles, four triples, 14 home runs, 80 runs scored, 60 RBI and 15 stolen bases overall and .313/.407/.508 since June 1st), he is also a team leader, universally respected by his teammates and coaches. He is a good student of the game with a great personality.

Another interview that you may have missed was the one that I did with Russ Steinhorn. We spoke about his time managing in the Dominican last season and how that experience is really helping as the contingent of Latin players assembled by Oz Ocampo and his team are starting to work their way up through the system. That was one thing that impressed me about the team. There is a heavy Latin presence with over half of the team hailing from places other than the U.S., but there is still great comaraderie among the players. I've seen that more and more through the past few years, and I will credit the Astros for working to bridge both the language and cultural gaps.

There was an amazing amount of talent on that team. As many interviews as I did, I could have done more. I didn't interview Carmen Benedetti, but only because I interviewed him last year in Tri-City. Not only was Benedetti having a great season at the plate with Quad Cities (.332/.446/.465 in 69 games) prior to his early August promotion, he also impressed with his play in the field. With nine outfield assists to his name for the season (six of those from right field), it is no wonder that I overheard one of the Great Lakes pitchers comment, "That kid's got the best arm I've ever seen."

Similarly, I talked to Chuckie Robinson at Tri-City last year; otherwise, he would have been on my short list to talk with. As impressed as I was with Robinson when I saw him last year, I am doubly impressed with him now, not only for his bat (.291/.347/.488 in 96 games with Quad Cities), but also with his talents behind the dish. He is a pitching coach's dream with his ability to handle a pitching staff and a manager's dream with his 45% caught stealing rate. Plus, I personally liked that he walked up to Tracy Chapman's "Give Me One Reason." One final tidbit about Robinson -- both he and teammate Troy Sieber went to bat without batting gloves. There's something appealing to me about that.

But, honestly, every single player on the team stood out in one way or another. It was an impressive group and I think they've got a really good opportunity in the postseason. I will be pulling for each and every one of them.

And one final note about the trip: Jake Levy (media relations and broadcaster extraordinaire) and Rich Guill (photographer extraordinaire) were both so warm and welcoming. It is a pleasure to "do business" with them.

PHOTOS

When I was finishing up my interview with Russ Steinhorn, I commented on how hard I was trying to make sure that the Latin players who didn't understand English as well as others would know where they could find the pictures I took of them during the trip. I do use the photos for the blog, but honestly, I also take them so that the players can share them with family and friends. That has become equally important to me over the years.

And I know that the players appreciate it. When I see a player from a prior trip, I almost always get a smile and a warm greeting as I did from Cristian Javier in Quad Cities. When he saw me, he didn't say a word, he just smiled, walked over and shook my hand. When I told Russ that, he replied, "Sometimes it's hard on them. It's a long season. They love the support when they're so far away from their families. Sometimes they may not feel it as much as they need it, and to get it definitely puts a smile on their face." And that put a smile on my face.

For all of the photos I took on the trip, you can go to my flickr account here. Here are a few of my favorites.

Osvaldo Duarte, Gabriel Bracamonte and Josh Rojas

checking the forecast

Chuckie Robinson framed by a double rainbow

Marcos Almonte and Ronnie Dawson talking shop

Lucas Williams "Field of Dreams" photo

Chas McCormick and the bridge

Salvador Montano ...

... and his skinny legs!

Ronel Blanco autographing Montano's jersey

Carlos Sanabria warming up

Ronel Blanco

Troy Sieber and Kristian Trompiz

Chas McCormick headed to first

Cristian Javier

And a few more great faces ...

Marcos Almonte

Cesar Rosado

Cristian Javier

Ronnie Dawson

Patrick Sandoval

Yohan Ramirez

THE END

Getting to Know Quad Cities OF Ronnie Dawson

The first thing you will notice about Ronnie Dawson is his ever-present smile. Dawson is a young man who very much enjoys what he does for a living and it shows on his face every single day. And he has a lot to smile about these days. After an inauspicious start to his season (.213/.295/.343 in April and May), he caught fire, hitting .327/.414/.536 with 13 doubles, three triples, nine home runs, 34 RBI, 50 runs scored and seven stolen bases in the 58 games from June 1st on.

Ronnie Dawson - July 2017

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Dawson was on my original list to interview, but I somehow kept missing him. And the more I talked to others, the more I wanted to talk to him. If you've been reading my other interviews from late last month in Quad Cities, you will have noticed the praise that was heaped on him by teammates ...

From Troy Sieber

Watching Ronnie hit ... I love his swing ... he's a left-handed batter, big kid and he can drive the ball to every part of the field. When I see him hit the ball out to left field, it's really nice because a lot of the time, you see a guy pulling the ball for home runs, but when you see a guy like him that can hit the ball out right-center, left-center, it's really a nice thing to watch. And for a guy that big that has such good speed, it's just ... he's a really good player. It's awesome to watch for sure. You don't see that very often.

From Josh Rojas

And then I really like the way Ronnie [Dawson] plays, just because he's so big and athletic at the same time. The first time I saw him run, I was like, 'What the heck?' I did not expect that out of him.

From Daz Cameron

We have a lot of good guys, but the guy that stands out to me the most would probably be Ronnie [Dawson]. Ronnie is a good player. He's got everything. He can do a lot of things on the field. He can run for his size. I enjoy watching him play. When he gets it going, I love watching his swing. His swing ... it's nice when it gets going.

And then I spoke with Quad Cities Manager Russ Steinhorn about Dawson. According to Steinhorn, Dawson didn't let his slow start to the season faze him. "He never gets down on himself. He's always smiling and having a good time which is what you need in a long season. He puts in more work in the batting cage in fixing his swing than anybody. He is so focused on trying to get better, and I'm just happy to see the work that he's put in is paying off," said Steinhorn.

Steinhorn continued, "We have a lot of guys that work hard, but he stands out. You can tell he's got a plan to be successful and he's trying to do everything he can to do it." Steinhorn loves that Dawson can hit for power and fool people with his speed and came up with an interesting comp for the approach the Astros want him to take, "There's only one George Springer, but if (Dawson) could be our George Springer in the Midwest League, I think that's the approach that we're trying to teach him because he can run and he can hit the ball out of the park. Hit the ball out of the park the first at-bat and try to do it like George does and, if not, just get on base and run and have good at-bats the rest of the game."

Wow. Well, I was finally able to sneak in a few minutes with Dawson between Sunday chapel and game prep. My first question centered on whether he felt the extra pressure associated with being a top draft pick (Dawson was a second round pick in 2016). Dawson admitted that he has sometimes felt that pressure, "Especially last year I did. I wanted to prove myself early and I struggled at the beginning of last year and again this year also. It really has mentally made me a better person, a better teammate, a better ballplayer. I put so much pressure on myself at the beginning, wanting to do good. Then I realized at the end of the day, it's baseball, and me struggling helped me push myself ... to just play the game (and) have fun. And last year, I had a real good month and right now, I'm getting back to playing like I usually do and not worrying about (where I was drafted). I'm playing baseball and at the end of the day, it's the same thing."

When asked what was clicking for him in his recent success, Dawson said, "Honestly, the second half I sat down with one of my good friends ... he's actually a mental coach ... and I really talked to him. His name's Diamond Hall and I played baseball with him. He's no longer playing baseball, but ever since my freshman year of college, me and him would talk about the mental side of baseball. Each year I get better and better. And now, I talk to him at least once a weekend. We just talk about that. I sit down, set goals for myself that I can worry about. I can't worry about getting hits. I can't worry about hitting home runs and RBI's. I don't really determine that. That's the baseball gods. I can get a bloop hit, hit a ball hard. My thing is really worrying about quality at-bats and controlling the stuff I can control. That's what I've really been focusing on this second half."

Growing up, Dawson's parents kept him in sports from a young age, playing football, basketball and baseball. He credits that early exposure for his athleticism and speed. Despite enjoying baseball, Dawson thought it more likely that he would end up pursuing football, and probably would have but for a chance encounter in high school, detailed in this recent MiLB article, that resulted in the AAA Columbus Clippers, a Cleveland Indians minor league affiliate, bringing Dawson into their fold as both bat boy and baseball protege.

Of that experience with the Clippers, Dawson said, "Yeah, that's when I really took off and thought about playing baseball at the next level. I was always a football guy. I was football, football, football, going to football camps. Baseball, I was good at it, but didn't think I could play at the next level, even college. Then (as a) bat boy, I started talking to a lot of guys. George Robinson [the Clippers director of clubhouse operations], he really helped me. I was hitting every day and (he told me I) should go to a camp and get noticed. Went to a camp, got my first offer (and I thought) this baseball thing may work out for me. I was talking to a lot of guys, all of the guys that are with the Indians now, they were down in AAA, like Corey Kluber, Lonnie Chisenhall. One guy that really stuck out, and I still talk to him today, was Matt LaPorta. He was a first baseman for the Cleveland Indians for a while. I really enjoy talking to him. I really learned a lot from him. Take the stuff that he taught me back then and apply it to my game today. Not even on the field, more off the field, preparing myself for the game and stuff like that. I'm really grateful for the opportunity. It's priceless."

Better known for his bat, I asked Dawson to characterize himself defensively. "I'm pretty good. On a scale of 1 through 10, I'm not a 10. I'd say 7, 7-1/2, 8. I can still get better. I just started playing outfield. This is my fourth year. I'm still getting better. I'm real comfortable in left field," said Dawson. He's gotten a little more experience playing right field this season and is starting to get more comfortable at that position as well. Playing alongside Daz Cameron doesn't exactly hurt, either. "I'm getting better, learning. Daz Cameron's probably one of the best outfielders I've played with and I've just tried to learn from him because he's been around the game since he was born. I try to pick up things from him and that helps me a lot."

Delino DeShields, Jr. once told me that he felt that the underrepresentation of black players in baseball was due in part to the mere expense associated with the game, playing travel ball and going to camps in order to get noticed as a player. I asked Dawson for his thoughts on that, "Yeah, I would agree with him. Travel ball is expensive." Dawson said that he didn't really know much about the youth baseball initiatives for inner-city kids, but he thinks that's a great step to increase participation. "Honestly, it is expensive. Back then I didn't realize ... my parents had to do whatever they had to do to make sure I played. Talking to them (later), 'You guys paid that much for me to play baseball?' Especially when I'm 10 years old. It's cool for me to travel to North Carolina, but at the end of the day, me winning that tournament wasn't worth all that. (But) you build life memories. Honestly, the memories I had when I was little were unreal. The sacrifices my parents made for me ... I didn't understand it back then. Now, looking back at it, us not going on vacation because I'm at a baseball tournament," said Dawson. Add in the time commitment of 4 or 5 years in the minors, and it doesn't take much to see why professional football and basketball can seem more attractive to many young athletes.

On a lighter note, I asked Dawson for something about himself that most people didn't know. "One thing that people probably don't know, but my teammates probably would know, is that I love to dance. If you see (me) before the game, pre-game, I'm probably dancing. If there's a good song on, got a good little tune, I'm probably dancing and just trying to have fun. And I think that's another thing that helps me mentally. This game is so hard. Three out of 10 times, you're a hall-of-famer, and for a lot of us, three out of 10 times, that's a really good 10 at-bats. I try to keep having fun and stay positive as much as possible. Dancing and stuff helps me do that a lot."

Which brings me full circle back to that ever-present smile of his. Dawson told me, "It helps. There are times especially in the first half, I get down on myself and it's not making the game fun. If I have a bad game, oh well, I've got tomorrow. There's more to me than just baseball. I love the game, but I can't have baseball identify me. I love the game so much ... I've just got to remember that. Even if I have a bad day, I've always got tomorrow."

I have a feeling that baseball will bring Dawson a lot of tomorrows, and with his plan, his focus and his positive approach, it will be my pleasure to watch.

Thank you for your time, Ronnie, and best of luck as the season continues.

Other Recent Interviews:

Marcos Almonte and Abdiel Saldana

Patrick Sandoval
Carson LaRue
Troy Sieber
Daz Cameron

Josh Rojas

Getting to Know Quad Cities 3B/2B Josh Rojas

Through 31 games for Quad Cities, Astros 2017 26th round draft pick Josh Rojas has managed to slash .263/.311/.551 with four doubles, three triples, eight home runs and 28 RBI. Although Rojas was originally assigned to the Short Season A Tri-City team, he never played a game there and instead made his pro debut with the Full Season A Quad Cities team, a move that isn't very common for a lower round pick. That piqued my curiosity, so I made my plans to talk with Rojas late last month during my Quad Cities trip.

Josh Rojas - July 2017

Photo by Jayne Hansen

After learning that Rojas only hit five home runs his entire senior year at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, I tried to square that with the eight home runs he collected in his first 16 games with Quad Cities. So my first question to Rojas was, "What the heck?!?!" Rojas replied, "I think it had a little to do with the fact that we were in Hawaii. The ball doesn't fly very well. You've got to hit them perfect to get them out. I hit a couple that I thought were gone and they'd get caught or they hit the wall or it just hangs up there a lot. (The ball) doesn't fly very well." Also, Rojas has been working hard on his approach since starting his professional career and he felt that work was already starting to pay off and could be a factor in his power output as well.

Rojas had hoped for the chance to be drafted as a junior, but a variety of factors (including some self-imposed pressure) worked against him. So he approached his senior year with a different mindset. "Going into my senior year, I kind of just said, 'Forget all the rest of the stuff. I don't really care about the draft right now. I'm just going to go back to playing the game that I was playing in high school and junior college, just having fun, and see where it takes me.' So I had a good senior season and I played well," said Rojas.

But even during a senior season that was successful for him, Rojas wouldn't allow himself to dwell on the draft. When friends asked him about it, he told them, "I haven't heard anything and I'm not really worried about it. I'm really not thinking about it. I'm just going to do well, focus on what I want to do next and that's it." And then it was summertime, the season was over and he still hadn't heard anything. But then he got a call from an Astros representative inviting him to a pre-draft workout in Huntington Beach. It was short notice, but Rojas went. "(I) felt like I did pretty well and then they said, 'we'll keep in touch,' (but) I really didn't hear anything."

So Rojas moved on with life and went ahead and scheduled job interviews. But when draft time came, it was in the back of his head. He knew that, if he was to get drafted, it would be in the final day. His girlfriend knew he was thinking about it; he gave himself away by answering a call from an unknown number that day, something he would rarely do. But then he got a call from someone he knew; it was his mom congratulating him on getting drafted. While he was still trying to wrap his head around it, his dad called him from work to congratulate him as well.

"I was in disbelief. I was so excited. And then right after that, the same guy that invited me to the workout called me and said, 'Hey, I just wanted to let you know that we drafted you and I'm taking it that you're going to accept,' and I (said), 'Heck, yeah, I'll take it!' So that was the crazy, crazy draft day. It was pretty cool, especially since I was kind of left in the dark about the whole thing. I'm happy. I couldn't have asked for anything better. There's nothing else I'd rather be doing," said Rojas.

And then, of course, Rojas headed to Tri-City as so many new Astros draft picks do, but it took a while for him to get activated and before he knew it, he was headed to Quad Cities to start his professional career. Rojas said, "The first day I was here (in Quad Cities), I was in the lineup so that was going to be my first game since college, first live pitching I've seen since college." And he had seen tweets coming out that he would be the first 2017 Astros draftee to make it to Quad Cities. "Personally, I felt like I've got to live up to that. I don't want to come in and they're like, 'What is this kid doing here? He's not very good.' So that first game I was pressing a little bit. It was online and my parents got to watch it. My Dad texted me right after the game ... I went 0-for-3 with a strikeout or something, maybe even two ... and he told me, 'Just have fun. It looked like when you were at the plate, you were thinking too much,' which I was. It was funny that he could tell. That next day I ... just focus(ed) on getting a base hit, and then I hit a home run."

When I asked Rojas to give me a scouting report on himself, he touted that his knowledge of the game and baseball IQ are high and he's worked a lot on his defense, but he quickly honed in on what he's working to improve. "I've always just been a free swinger and not really had an offensive approach. So I think the biggest thing I could work on is my offensive approach, just being more consistent and swinging at better pitches. Because I think when I start doing better at the plate and start having more success, I start to be more of that free swinger again and start to lose my approach. So I think the biggest thing is I've got to stay focused on my approach and, in the end, it will make me a more consistent hitter."

Quad Cities Manager Russ Steinhorn is pleased with what he's seen from Rojas thus far, "We're just trying to get him to drive the ball and swing hard with intent every swing, and he's had some success with it. He's come in to the organization and he's bought into our hitting approach." Steinhorn went on to say that playing every day and preparing will be the biggest learning curve for Rojas.

Rojas played primarily second base and third base during his college career, plus some right field in junior college, and feels comfortable at any of those positions. When asked to characterize himself defensively, he told me, "I feel like I'm consistent on defense. I pride myself on trying not to make errors. I pride myself at getting to balls that other people might not get to. I think my reads off the bat (are) what I'm the best at because I'm not the fastest guy. I'm probably not the quickest guy. But I feel like my read off of the hitter's swing, I feel like it's really good. So I think that's what allows me to play multiple positions as I can read the ball off the bat from different spots on the field because I've been all over the place. I think that was the biggest adjustment when I first started moving around. I was playing second a lot (so) I learned the reads from second. I moved to third. A right-handed hitter, you're kind of cut off from seeing, but then you learn over time how their swing is and where the ball will end up. I think that's probably my strength. I think one of the weaknesses I have on defense is I definitely want to improve my arm strength. You see the guys out here that play third and take their time, take their time and then throw a missile to first, whereas, I'm more of a guy that gets it and gets rid of it because I don't have the arm strength to do stuff like that. I would love to improve on my arm strength."

I wanted to dig a little deeper and find out what kind of teammate Rojas is. I found that he's a little bit of a joker, more apt to be the guy who keeps the clubhouse loose than the team leader. "I'm definitely more of a guy who tries to keep things loose. When a guy is frustrated, I like to go joke around with them and be the guy that just keeps people up. I like to have fun and play jokes on people, play pranks. That's how my Dad is too. Same way. Still playing jokes and messing around." When Rojas told me later on that he likes to hunt and fish, including surreptitious night fishing on golf course lakes, it cemented his jokester persona in my mind.

Since Rojas is new to the Astros organization, I wanted to know which of his new teammates really impressed him. Rojas said, "Defensively, Chuckie [Robinson] stands out to me. It's unreal how hard he throws the ball and it's right on the money. Like yesterday, he had that ball in the dirt and he picked it out of the dirt and threw the guy out by three steps. And then I really like the way Ronnie [Dawson] plays, just because he's so big and athletic at the same time. The first time I saw him run, I was like, 'What the heck?' I did not expect that out of him. I like Daz [Cameron] too. Daz is super athletic, gets to balls that I think are hits and he's camped under them in center field. Good swing. I feel like he doesn't swing and miss very much. He's always on it."

Going back to draft day, I wanted to know what Rojas was interviewing for as his baseball backup plan. He was hoping to become an academic adviser at Arizona State University (in his home state), while pursuing his Master's degree there with an eye toward ultimately snagging a coaching job. Whatever his career brings, he hopes there is a coaching job at the end of it. "I've always been a guy that, when we're in the dugout, even when the pitching coach is telling the pitchers stuff on pitching, I'm always listening. I like to know that kind of stuff. Even when I'm watching a game on TV, I have to rewind it and pause and slo-mo it on little things I see that I didn't know. I feel like I learn a lot by looking and listening."

A self-described sports fanatic, Rojas's high energy and curiosity should serve him well should he ever have the opportunity to pursue that coaching career. But, hopefully, that next career will be postponed for a while. I'll leave you with something else Steinhorn said about Rojas, "I don't think anybody could expect the start that he's had at the full season level when he was supposed to be in Tri-City like all the other draft guys. Nobody expected this, but we're all glad he's an Astro."

Thank you for your time, Josh, and best of luck as your season continues.

Other Recent Interviews:
Marcos Almonte and Abdiel Saldana

Patrick Sandoval
Carson LaRue
Troy Sieber
Daz Cameron

Getting to Know Quad Cities OF Daz Cameron

Last month in Quad Cities, I finally got to catch up with Daz Cameron. I had hoped to talk to him last year on my trip to Tri-City, but a broken finger ended his season shortly before I got there. And I really wasn't sure what to expect from the 2015 first round pick, but what I found was a very pleasant surprise.

Daz Cameron - July 2017

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Cameron is as down-to-earth, personable, good-natured and enjoyable to talk with as they come. If you expect him to wear his top prospect status as something that sets him apart, you will be disappointed. In Cameron's own words, "I'm pretty much the guy that's laid back, chill ... stay at home, play video games, laughing all the time, goofy guy. I like to go out. I like to enjoy hanging out with friends."

My very first sighting of Cameron was of him showing off some dance moves in the pre-game dugout. So I had an inkling that we would hit it off. Nothing ground-breaking or earth-shattering came from our conversation. Honestly, it was more like two baseball fans just sitting around shooting the breeze on a lazy Sunday. I ended up telling him as much about myself as I learned from him. But I digress.

Before I talked with Cameron, I got some background from Quad Cities Manager Russ Steinhorn, "Huge bounceback year which didn't start the way anybody would have hoped for. Last year, he got off to a rough start here [Quad Cities]. He got sent to Tri-City, was playing really well and then he got hurt. He's overcome a lot of adversity early on with a lot of hype coming out of the draft. But to do what he's done so far and not get discouraged, I think speaks a lot about his mentality on how he can handle the adversity that's been thrown at him."

Steinhorn continued, "He was floating around .170 the first half of the season and now he's up to .250 with 11 home runs [now 12], leading the team in stolen bases. He is now playing and showing the tools that everybody was talking about when he was coming out of the draft. I'm glad to see that out of him because when there's a lot of hype surrounding a young kid, it's hard to see how he'll take it. But he's got a good baseball background. [Cameron's father is 17-season MLB OF Mike Cameron, a 3-time Gold Glove winner.] I'm sure he's got a lot of support with his Dad. You can tell that he's stayed focused and it's paying off which is good to see."

My first question to Cameron was whether he had ever had any doubts about signing out of high school. "Well, for me, it was just going with my heart ... just following my heart in what I wanted to do. And I think I (made) the right decision, me coming into professional baseball, because it's something I've wanted to do since I was five, since the first time that I could hold a bat. For me to make the decision, back then, a long time ago really helped me when the draft was taking place," said Cameron.

As to how he's dealt with the pressure that comes with being a top draft pick signing out of high school, Cameron told me, "I somewhat felt a little pressure at first, at the beginning. But I had to realize that it's just baseball and pressure comes with baseball anyway. My Dad helped me deal with it. (He helped me understand) to not worry about it, to just go out and play the game hard and play the game I've been playing since I was five. It's not going to change. Going out and playing the game is the same thing as (when) you were going out and playing the game when you were (a kid). Just having fun with it has allowed me to get away from all the worries and stuff. All the prospect rankings and all that stuff ... it's just there. I know it means something, but for me to just put it aside and go out and have fun has worked for me."

Hanging out with his Dad in major league clubhouses growing up was a lot of fun for him, but it also taught him a lot about the baseball mindset and how to prepare. "We used to go to the ballpark all the time. Just for me to be around the guys in the clubhouse, it's really helped me about how I want to go about my day. The clubhouse, the atmosphere has helped me get in the routine of things. Just looking at other guys and see what they do before games and even before they come to the ballpark; it's just helped me all around to become the player that I'm becoming," said Cameron. One of the players that Cameron really enjoyed getting to know was Brewers 1B Prince Fielder who his father Mike played with in 2008 and 2009, but he got to know quite a few great players along the way and acknowledged, "There were a lot of guys that were really cool with me. There were a lot of guys that gave me a lot of advice and have helped me today."

Cameron started off his 2016 season slowly and suffered the same fate in 2017, hitting .185/.260/.338 in his first 43 games through the end of May. But he started to really turn things around in June and is now hitting his stride, hitting .325/.385/.544 with seven doubles, three triples, four home runs and 25 RBI in the 30 games since July 1st. What is clicking for him? "Just the mental approach, me going out there and just being myself and not worrying about, 'I need to do this.' Just going out there and just playing. The rest will take care of itself. For me, I know there's up and downs in baseball and up and downs in life so I have to take that into (consideration) and just really go out there, working hard every day and believing in what I can do. That was the main thing for me."

It's not just one aspect of his game that Cameron is working on improving. He said, "For me, it's just work on my approach and my craft and everything ... defense, all-around, just everything ... just to keep getting better. I'm never going to be satisfied because in baseball, you've always got to work hard every day. Just working hard every day to be the best player I can be, keep working towards it."

Cameron obviously has a great deal of physical ability. What else does he bring to the game? "(I'm) just a good guy around the clubhouse. I like to be on good terms with everybody in the clubhouse. I like to feel the vibe of ... a good atmosphere in the clubhouse, winning atmosphere. I want to win. I don't want to lose. Just tell everybody to keep playing the game hard. Just be there to pick guys up on and off the field when they need it." He works at finding some connection with each and every player on the team, understanding that even a small connection can become big in terms of building team chemistry. But most of all, he just tries to be himself. "I'm not trying to be somebody I'm not," he said.

I would say that another of Cameron's intangibles is his ready laugh. Although he cited Chuckie Robinson as one of his funniest teammates, he admitted that it doesn't take that much to make him laugh and most of his teammates can pull that off, "I like to laugh. I laugh a lot so it's not really that one guy in particular that makes me laugh all the time. I'm a goofy person. Anything can make me laugh, literally."

The River Bandits crew that I saw in late July had an immense amount of talent. Cameron may be a top prospect, but he's in good company. Cameron said, "We have a lot of good guys, but the guy that stands out to me the most would probably be Ronnie [Dawson]. Ronnie is a good player. He's got everything. He can do a lot of things on the field. He can run for his size. I enjoy watching him play. When he gets it going, I love watching his swing. His swing ... it's nice when it gets going. Just to watch everybody doing their own thing ... it's a team effort. When I look at everybody and see everybody doing (well), it's good. Feeling good. The vibe's good. And even when we're not doing good, we know we've got to pick each other up and keep it going because it's baseball. It's a game of failure. It's a good team. I enjoy playing with these guys. That's for sure."

In response to my final question, Cameron told me, "I love the Astros organization. I feel like we have a lot of things that are here to benefit us on and off the field. I enjoy being here as a player. I love the coaches (and) the fans here. It's a good place to be. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." With that said, he understands the business side of baseball, the potential for trades and such, but he's perfectly happy with where he is. But, honestly, Cameron strikes me as someone who will be happy no matter where life takes him. Personally, I hope to see him in Astros orange and blue for a nice long time because he is a joy to watch on the field and a pleasure to know off the field.

Thank you for your time, Daz, and the best of luck as your season and your career continue.

Other Recent Interviews:
Marcos Almonte and Abdiel Saldana

Patrick Sandoval
Carson LaRue
Troy Sieber