Former ValleyCat Clemens switches from hot corner to behind the plate

Troy, NY - Koby Clemens, a member of the 2005 Tri-City ValleyCats, is switching positions from third base to behind the plate as a catcher. The 21-year old son of pitching great Roger Clemens, was among 41 players invited to the Houston Astros minor league mini-camp in Kissimmee, Florida this spring.

Clemens was drafted in the eighth round of the 2005 First-Year Player Draft by the Houston Astros. After hitting .297 with four homeruns in 33 games with Greenville, Clemens was promoted to the ValleyCats. Clemens, just 18 at the time, was the youngest player on the 2005 ValleyCats. In nine games with the ValleyCats, Clemens hit .281 with two triples and six runs batted in.

Clemens continued his ascension up the minor league ranks in 2006 when he was assigned to Class-A Lexington. The former third baseman struggled in his first season with Lexington, hitting just .229, but rebounded in 2007 by swatting a team-high 15 home runs. Clemens' 15 homeruns ranked fourth among all Astros minor leaguers last season.

After signing with the Astros, Clemens was assigned to third base for the Greenville Astros, who did not have a third baseman on the roster. At the time of being drafted, former Astros General Manager Tim Purpura noted that a switch to catcher may be imminent. "Two of his better tools are his power and his arm," Purpura said. "You're always trying to say, 'At what position can you best use your tools?' So catcher is a position you look at."

Astros Minor League catching roving instructor Danny Shaeffer and three-time Gold Glove winner Brad Ausmus are working with Clemens this spring as he makes the move to catcher. Clemens will likely start 2008 with either Advanced Class-A Salem or Double-AA Corpus Christi where he will hope to continue his rise up the Houston Astros organizational ladder.