Astros owner hopes Roger Clemens will pitch in majors this season

Roger Clemens just might be pitching this season in the majors. Or so Houston Astros owner Jim Crane hopes.

Clemens, who is 50, has appeared twice in games for the independent minor league Sugar Land Skeeters. And he’s twice said he’s not ready to make a comeback. But Crane hasn’t ruled it out.

“We haven’t heard from Roger, so that’s still up in the air,” Crane told the Associated Press.

Crane and General Manager Jeff Luhnow said that if Clemens did make a major league appearance this season, it would be in Houston against a non-playoff team, which only leaves series later this month against the Chicago Cubs or Philadelphia Phillies.

“We wouldn’t do anything against a contender if we did it,” Crane told the Chicago Tribune, adding, “This is not unprecedented territory.”

Luhnow told the Tribune that the Astros, who have the worst record in the majors and have traded away their top veterans, are trying to put out the best team they can.

“I do believe maintaining the integrity of the playoffs is something that’s always high on our priority list,” Luhnow said, adding, “We’re not going to mess with the playoffs. That’s how we operate.”

Cubs Manager Dale Sveum thinks Clemens could still compete in the majors.

“If he feels like it, he could get people out at this level,” Sveum said. “If anyone could do it, it would be him.”

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