Clemens throws his son a few heaters

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Roger Clemens stood on the mound in a nearly empty minor league stadium Thursday night and warned to his son in the batting cage, “time for the heater – fastballs.”

On the first workout fastball, Koby Clemens – third baseman for the Houston Astros’ Class A Lexington Legends – grounded weakly to second. Three heaters later, he launched the ball off a scoreboard on the left-field wall.

Dad didn’t even look back.

The future Hall of Famer said his workout went “like clockwork,” although he insisted that wasn’t his prime objective.

“Even with everything going on in my life right now, my job is to turn him loose with his ballclub and his manager, ready to play,” Clemens said after a workout that approached two hours.

Next Tuesday, Clemens will make his first step in a much-anticipated return to the Astros when he starts for the Legends. Koby, who has missed several weeks with a broken finger, will return to the minor league lineup.

“It’s almost like a pitching machine when he gets out there,” the younger Clemens said. “It’s going to be right there.”

Clemens, wearing an Astros workout jersey and a Legends cap, says he’ll keep himself to a strict 60-pitch count Tuesday night and won’t be surprised if youngsters with ambitions similar to his son’s end up tearing him apart. He says it’ll be a good time to work on his changeup, which he seldom throws.

Barring any setbacks, his Lexington appearance will be followed by one June 11 at Double-A Corpus Christi and another June 16 at Triple-A Round Rock.