Julius Caesar, using his best Latin several centuries ago, confidently said, “Veni, vidi, vici,” meaning “I came, I saw, I conquered.” Randy Cesar, while probably not fluent in Latin, has earned the right to have “Veni, vidi, sarculo” burned into his bat: Loosely translated, “I came, I saw, I raked.”

Newly named the Houston Astros organization’s MiLB Player of the Month for May (topping the Texas League in batting average), the Corpus Christi Hooks’ corner infielder/DH has easily conquered Double-A and is now laying waste to league ERAs while he patiently awaits his promotion to the AAA Fresno Grizzlies.

In May, he hit .385 (42-for-109), with six home runs and 24 RBIs.

Through games of June 12, Cesar hit safely in 34 straight games, a Hooks’ 14-year franchise record, and the longest current streak in all minor league ball. This run by Cesar eclipses Jorge Cortes’ 27-gamer in 2006, which, as of June 12th, put him three off the Texas League record.

Cesar’s is also the longest streak in the Texas League since Midland’s (Oakland A’s) D’Arby Myers (now 29 and with Baltimore’s AA Bowie Baysox) hit safely in 33 consecutive games during the 2013 season. The league record for the longest hitting streak is 37 games, achieved by El Paso’s Bobby Trevino in 1969.

UPDATE: An RBI double in the 6th inning, June 13, extended Cesar’s record streak…now at 35. He’s not seen game action since, through Sunday, June 17.

The streak continued, and reached 36 games, Tuesday, June 19, as Cesar went 1-for-3, with an infield single, in the Hooks’ 9-6 win over San Antonio.

Record tied! Cesar, in Wednesday’s (June 20) game, singled in a run, and now has a 37-game hitting streak, which ties the Texas League record! The last 37-game hit streak in the league was back in 1969. He’ll have a chance to break the 49-year-old record Thursday, June 21, at home vs Frisco.

Congratulations, Randy! A 1st-inning double seizes the Texas League consecutive game hit streak (38!) for Cesar, in Thursday’s (June 21) against the Frisco RoughRiders.

June 22: Cesar extended his hitting streak to 39 games with a triple in the bottom of the 8th for Hooks. There have only been seven hitting streaks longer in MiLB since 1950.

June 23: A first-inning single stretched Cesar’s hit streak record to 40!

June 24: A double and homer kept the streak alive at 41! Can he keep the streak alive into Triple-A (whenever)?

June 28: Fresh off the Texas League All-Star break, Cesar extends his Texas League record hitting streak of 42 with a double in the first.

June 29: The streak came to an end at 42, with Randy’s 0-for-4 game (with 2 strikeouts), as the Hooks lost to Arkansas, 2-1. Great run, though!

In the words of @MiLB itself: “Randy Cesar knows the opposition is trying to get him out. He just doesn’t care.”

“The way that he’s been going through every single at-bat, he’s looking to do something special, and it could be a single, a double just to contribute to the team,” Hooks manager Omar Lopez told the Corpus Christi Caller Times after Tuesday’s game that brought Cesar to 34 straight.

“And probably the last at-bat [in the ninth inning], it was probably everything about him since we were down by four, and see if he could create a rally. He did a pretty good job by battling a lot in that at-bat and was able to put the ball in play up the middle.”

Cesar has hit safely in every game he has played since May 5 and is hitting .382 with 22 runs, eight doubles, a triple, seven home runs, and 27 RBIs prior to Tuesday’s single.

Related: Cesar, Taylor Jones Lead 8 Hooks To Texas League All-Star Game

Cesar’s Roamin’ Empire

Signed as an international free agent as a 17-year-old out of the Dominican Republic in 2012, the now-23 Cesar was barely on anyone’s radar for years, but the 6’1″, 180-pounder looks like he’s having no problem asserting himself, especially when he lets his right-handed bat do the loudest talking.

“When I came here I was zero,’” Cesar said early in his pro career, holding his fingers in a circle to show how much English he knew. “Now I can talk to people and I feel really good about it,” thanks to the organization’s system-wide English classes offered to Houston’s Latin American players early in their careers in the system.

Related: JD Davis, Randy Cesar: Astros’ 3B Bonanza

Entering play June 13, Randy Cesar was leading the Texas League with a .349 average, a handful of points atop fellow hot-hitting Hook, Taylor Jones. While Jones trails at .340, he leads the league in OPS, with 1.038. Cesar comes in at seventh, with his .910.

Cesar bats mostly cleanup for the Hooks, a lineup slot he’ll never see in the big leagues. Big flies are not his strong suit, having hit eight this season, about half the league-leading total. Virtually any other spot in the lineup could see Cesar, comfortably, even at a George Springer-like leadoff.

The Hooks are hanging tough in the Texas League South Division, with a 38-26 record (through June 12), two games off the pace set by San Diego’s AA affiliate San Antonio Missions, who won Tuesday’s game over Corpus, 5-1.

Randy Cesar will be a starter in the Texas League All-Star Game in Midland, June 26.