Koby Clemens is coming to Salem.

The Salem Avalanche will break spring training camp on Sunday, and embattled pitching ace Roger Clemens' son will be among them, manager Jim Pankovits said on Thursday.

Clemens has been a minor leaguer in the Houston Astros' organization since 2005, but his first three seasons he struggled playing third base. The Astros, Salem's parent club until the end of the season, have moved Clemens to catcher.

"He's getting better every day," Pankovits said. "Obviously he has a ways to go, but I like his enthusiasm. He seems to work at it. He's been swinging the bat well this spring, and hopefully that will help him with his catching.

"He's got a huge challenge ahead of him, but I wouldn't bet against him."

Seven position players and four pitchers from last year's Avalanche will be on the roster when Salem opens its Carolina League season against Potomac on April 4 at Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium.

Outfielders Ryan Reed, Orlando Rosales and Cesar Quintero are back. They'll be joined by Jordan Parraz, a third-round draft pick in 2004 who hit .281 with 28 doubles, 14 homers and 76 RBIs in low-A Lexington (Ky.) last season.

Parraz, Pankovits said, "has a lot of tools. He's a tool box." Pankovits said will play mostly center and right fields to take advantage of his "absolute cannon" of an arm.

Mark Ori, Wladimir Sutil and Tim Torres are back in the Avalanche infield. Ori will split time with newcomer Jimmy Van Ostrand at first base.

Van Ostrand hit .289 with 18 doubles, 12 homers and 60 RBIs for Lexington last season.

Torres, Sutil and newcomer Greg Buchanan will share duties at second base and shortstop. Buchanan hit .240 for the Legends last season, with 18 doubles, seven homers and 56 RBIs.

Jhon Florentino will handle most of the work at third base, though Sutil and Torres may see time there. Florentino hit .257 for Lexington with 16 doubles and 44 RBIs. He had 27 errors playing mostly at third base last year, but Pankovits said Florentino played errorless ball this spring.

The infield, Pankovits said, will be "something different every night.

"They are all working on their versatility," Pankovits said. "That's something I like about this organization [Houston]. The best opportunity they have to move up the ladder is if they can play different positions."

Clemens will be the Avalanche's primary catcher, working three or four games a week. He'll be backed up by returner Justin Tellam and newcomer Sal Iacono.

Iacono hit .180 for the short-season Tri-City last summer.

Four pitchers return to Salem this season. Left-hander Chris Salamida, a starter for the Avalanche last season, and lefty Polin Trinidad and righty Casey Hudspeth, who both came up from Lexington last season, will likely be in the starting rotation, while former Salem starter Raymar Diaz will likely go to the bullpen.

Salamida, Pankovits said, will get piggy back starts with fellow lefty Douglas Arguello, up from Lexington, "until Salamida gets stretched out a little bit."

Trinidad, who came up to the Avalanche from Lexington late last season, will be "believe it or not, our most experienced starter," Pankovits said. "Hopefully he'll be our anchor and get us off to a good start."

Corey Bass and lefty David Qualben are also likely starters for Salem. Bass went 1-3 with a 5.31 ERA in 31 games -- only seven starts -- for Lexington last year. Qualben went 11-9 with a 3.94 ERA for the Legends. He struck out 108 and walked 63 in 148¹₃ innings.

Right-hander Bryan Hallberg split time with Lexington and Tri-City last season. Lefty Arguello is also up from Lexington.

Righty Jason Dominguez is up from Tri-City.

Righties Felipe Garcia and Erick Abreu and lefty Josh Appell are new to the Astros' organization. Garcia went 0-1 with two saves and a 5.14 ERA with Hickory (N.C.) in the South Atlantic League last season. Appell went 2-1 with a 3.65 ERA in the New York-Penn League with the Brooklyn Cyclones.

Abreu struggled with injuries after signing with the New York Yankees organization. The 24-year-old went 0-2 with a 7.63 ERA in just eight games in the high-A Florida State League last summer. But he went 6.2 with a 1.88 ERA in the South Atlantic League in 2006.

"The biggest surprise is our pitching with all the new names," Pankovits said. "They are very inexperienced and will be tested. And I think as our pitching goes, so will we. So we'll see what happens."