Koby Clemens a real prospect?

[NYDodgers]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4507033

I've heard a lot about him over the years about how Roger spends a lot of time with him, is part of the reason he wanted to stay on the Astros, etc.

Does he really have potential? I'm not a Clemens fan but I do love father-son or brother combos in sports.

[HoustonGM]

His best-case scenario is probably a below-average regular.

[NYDodgers]

His line from this year: .345 .419 .636 with 22 HRs and 121 RBIs

Are these numbers normal in the minor leagues? Seems like a good prospect to me, maybe something of a lite David Wright-type hitter.

[Coach Owens]

The Cal league is known for giving hitters a huge advantage and any batter's numbers should, really, be taken with a grain of salt.

[HoustonGM]

I hadn't checked how he'd done this year. He was 22 and repeating high A-ball, and I don't know anything about the park/league environment, so it could just be a combination of factors contributing to boosting his numbers. Until this year, he had nothing but mediocre/poor seasons really. He wasn't even rated as one of the Astros top 30 prospects entering the season by Baseball America.

[SirKodiak]

They moved him to catcher, which in interesting.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/statistics/2009/10272.shtml

[Coach Owens]

I hadn't checked how he'd done this year. He was 22 and repeating high A-ball, and I don't know anything about the park/league environment, so it could just be a combination of factors contributing to boosting his numbers. Until this year, he had nothing but mediocre/poor seasons really. He wasn't even rated as one of the Astros top 30 prospects entering the season by Baseball America.

Like I said, HGM (;)), the California League is, in the words of FanGraphs' Erik Manning a "hitter's paradise". The Carolina League, where Clemens played last year, is also considered an above-average hitter's league.

[rschusta24]

They moved him to catcher, which in interesting.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/statistics/2009/10272.shtml

He was a catcher when Roger was playing for the Astros wasn't he? I remember there was a minor league rehab assignment game he played and his son was the catcher. I believe...

[HoustonGM]

He first played catcher in an actual minor league game in 2008. He might've caught a simulated game or something for his dad.

[NYDodgers]

Hard to believe that someone who won the MVP for a minor league didn't even make it to the top 30 prospects for the Astros.

I bet he gets a ton of pressure from Roger..

[HoustonGM]

The prospect rankings were preseason, and, as I said, Clemens had done absolutely nothing of note in the minors, nor did he have a particularly good scouting pedigree.