As Paredes' career progresses, his abuela is always with him in spirit

HOUSTON – When Isaac Paredes was informed that he was going to make his Major League debut in 2020, the first person he called was his grandmother, Gloria Eduviges, back home in Mexico.

“She said congrats, and she was very happy that I was finally able to make my dreams come true for something I had worked a lot of years,” said Paredes, the Astros’ starting third baseman.

Eduviges was the one who began taking Paredes to baseball practices in Hermosillo, Sonora in Mexico when he was eight years old, through the age of 11. They would walk together about three miles from their house to the practice fields, stopping at times to take respite under palm trees from the searing heat.

“She was the one that took me to my first baseball practice, so she basically raised me,” he said.

That’s why Paredes is playing this season with a heavy heart following the passing of his abuela in early April at the age of 76. Paredes was placed on bereavement leave to attend the funeral of his grandmother in Mexico and is still coping with the loss.

“It’s still very difficult,” he said. “It’s very recent. It’s something that I’m still grieving, but something that with time is going to get better. It’s a difficult process.”

This Mother’s Day marked the first for Paredes without his grandmother, who raised him along with his father and grandfather.

Paredes, who broke into the big leagues with the Tigers in 2020 and was traded to the Rays, then the Cubs and then to the Astros prior to the 2025 season, still pays tribute to his grandmother before every game he plays.

“I say a little prayer, just telling her to watch over me and just asking for a blessing for me and my family,” he said.

Eduviges never got to see Paredes play in an Astros uniform, but he did fulfill a promise to her by getting her to the United States to see him play in a Major League game. That came in April 2024, when he was still a member of the Rays.

“I was able to bring her here so she could see me live,” he said.

Even while Eduviges was back home in Mexico, Paredes would call her frequently. Not only to talk about baseball, but his life off the field. She was a constant source of comfort and support.

“The first time I was [in the big leagues], I was by myself, so she would give me pep talks to keep on playing and keep on going,” he said.

Paredes, 27, has done just that and has put together the kind of career that would make her proud. A two-time All-Star, he entered this week hitting .260/.351/.424 with 16 homers and 67 RBIs while batting third behind Yordan Alvarez on a team that was in first place in the American League West.