By PAUL GOTHAM
In his third professional season, Greece Arcadia alum Steven Klimek is commanding the strike zone and dictating at bats. But there is not a magic formula nor a secret pitch in his arsenal. When the reliever talks about his success, he points to a simple truth.
“A good located fastball is so hard to beat,” Klimek said recently by phone. “It’s not just about throwing fastball strike one, but it’s about throwing fastball strike one down at the knees.”
With that approach Klimek has accumulated 57 strike outs while allowing just six walks (9.5:1/strike out to walk ratio) in 53 innings of work out of the bullpen for the Delmarva Shorebirds (Class A South Atlantic League affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles). Combine that number with the 40 hits the right-hander has allowed, and he has registered a microscopic WHIP (walks plus hits per inning) of 0.87.
He has faced 208 batters thus far in 2017. Forty-nine of those hitters have been his responsibility (walk, hit or hit by pitch) for reaching base (opposing batters are hitting just .204 against him). Fifth-seven have returned to the pine without putting the ball in play.
Oh yeah, he has also uncorked just two wild pitches.
“It’s making sure you locate early in the count,” Klimek added. “If you’re trying to work outside it’s a matter of making sure you’re down and on the outer third.”
After digesting those numbers, it comes as no surprise Klimek is 5-1 with five saves and an ERA of 2.04 in 27 appearances on the season.
In a recent 10-game stretch (a span consisting of 18 innings), he allowed one earned run on 12 hits while fanning 23 and walking just three.
“I’ve also developed a little sinker over the past couple years. It’s kinda come into its own a little bit this year. I used to be a majority four-seam guy. I kept on playing with the two-seam, and it’s starting to get a little more run and a little more sink to it. That helps because if I can show a two and four-seam, just the extra couple inches of movement on the sinker will get a guy to ground out. That’s what you want.”
Numbers haven’t always been Klimek’s friend. He finished 3-7 during the 2015 season with the St. Bonaventure Bonnies. In 47.2 innings of work he fanned 30, walked 28 and shouldered an ERA of (shield your eyes) 7.93. That came after the 2014 campaign when he was 1-4 with 28 strike outs and 36 base on balls in 49.1 innings.
“I had some bad college numbers, but I was lucky enough and fortunate enough to have the opportunity to have the Orioles take a chance on me. I just make sure that I remember the struggles that I’ve had and I don’t want to be back there.”
Baltimore chose Klimek in the 33rd round of the 2015 MLB Draft.
“I was fortunate enough to get the shot. Most teams that I had talked to that year just forgot about me. By the time the draft came I wasn’t on their board anymore.”
Klimek’s timing proved to be strategic as he showed his potential when it mattered most.
“He saw a couple good outings and decided I was worth a late-round pick,” Klimek said of Orioles scout Kirk Fredriksson. “He had seen me over the years and seen my improvements and seen how I had come along. He saw a couple good starts. His philosophy was that if you have one good outing why can’t it be done again.”
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And bridging the gap between those less-than stellar numbers with St. Bonaventure and now?
“It’s just been a constant grind every day to try and improve and to not be satisfied with the last result, to try and take every day as an opportunity to get better as an opportunity to build off what you did the day before. That’s probably been my biggest key to success is to first of all try and get better every day and don’t take things for granted.”
The Shorebirds finished 29-39 in the first-half of the season and currently sit atop of the South Atlantic League’s Northern Division in the second-half standings at 20-14.
Klimek is one of eight former Section V athletes currently playing professional baseball at the minor league level including ChrisBostick (Aquinas), Ernie Clement (Brighton), Cito Culver (Irondequoit), Logan Harasta (Webster Thomas), Grant Heyman (Pittsford Sutherland), Danny Mendick (Pittsford Mendon) and Jonathan Schwind (Hilton).
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