The 2013 season saw Ben Klimesh split his year between Dayton and Bakersfield. He was very successful in Dayton but struggled in the transition to the California League. He headed back to pitch out of the Blaze bullpen in 2014 and make another run through the California League.
Things started out well as the first two appearances were for a perfect two innings with three strikeouts against Modesto in the opening series of the year. Things went south quickly though for the right hander as he allowed eight earned runs in the next five games that spanned 7.1 innings. Klimesh would finish the month out with three innings over two appearances with an earned run and three strikeouts. April ended much in the way the previous season did: With an ERA over 6.00 (6.57) and a good number of strikeouts (13 in 12.1 innings) to go with three walks. His home run rate was very high though as he allowed four on the month.
For as rough as April was when the calendar flipped to May the reliever started with a clean slate and he took full advantage of that. In the first week he would make two appearances and toss 2.1 shutout innings with four strikeouts, though he would walk three. In the second week he would make two more appearances and toss a pair of hitless innings. The third week of May saw two more appearances that spanned 3.1 shutout innings with six strikeouts. On May 25th he allowed two runs in 3.0 innings against High Desert for the only runs he would allow on the month. He would pick up his first save of the season as he wrapped up May with 2.0 shutout innings against Visalia on the 29th. In14.2 innings he posted a 1.23 ERA with five walks and 15 strikeouts. He also didn’t allow a home run.
The strong outings continued into the first week of June as he tossed 4.1 shutout innings with just one hit and a walk to go with six strikeouts. He would only pitch twice over the next two weeks and it seems the time off got to him as he allowed four earned runs in 2.0 innings. The final week saw him get into three games and allow a run over 4.0 innings. June saw just eight appearances and 10.1 innings with a 4.35 ERA. His peripherals were good though as he didn’t allow a home run, walked just three batters and struck out 12.
July started out about as good as it could have as Klimesh threw 2.1 shutout innings with seven strikeouts in the first two games of the month. He would get two days off then pitch on back-to-back days and toss up 2.0 hitless innings. He would then sit for five days before pitching again when he tossed a shutout inning. The next two outings were rough for the reliever as he allowed six earned runs in 1.1 innings and allowed his first home run in seven weeks. He would pick up saves on the 19th and 20th against Rancho Cucamonga and be promoted to Double-A Pensacola for the final week of the month. The transition went well as he made four appearances and allowed just one run in 4.0 innings with no walks and he struck out six batters. Between the two stops he posted a 5.11 ERA despite allowing just 12 hits and 3 walks (with just one homer) in 12.1 innings with 19 strikeouts.
Klimesh was able to carry his good start in Double-A into August as he tossed 1.1 shutout innings with a walk and three strikeouts. He would sit for five days before getting back into a game and the rust showed up as he allowed four runs with two walks, a homer and three strikeouts. He would allow a run over the next three outings before running into trouble on the 18th against Jacksonville where he allowed four runs in an inning of work. The right hander rebounded well to finish out the final 11 days of the season as he allowed just one run in 5.1 innings. The two poor outings really ballooned things as his ERA was 7.50 in August over 12.0 innings with seven walks and 18 strikeouts.
Overview
On the surface we have a 4.82 ERA between Advanced-A and Double-A, but I have a hard time saying that Klimesh had a bad year. The right hander tossed 61.2 innings with 21 walks and had 77 strikeouts with six home runs allowed (four of which came in April). He’s now in Arizona to pitch in the Arizona Fall League through the middle of November against other top prospects. Klimesh has generally struggled at first and then rebounded after he had a chance to settle in. I’d look for him back in Double-A next year and to post an ERA much more in line with his peripherals than he had with Pensacola this year.
Stats
| Team | W | L | ERA | SV | IP | H | HR | BB | K | WHIP | K/BB |
| Total | 5 | 2 | 4.82 | 7 | 61.2 | 57 | 6 | 21 | 77 | 1.27 | 3.67 |
| Bakersfield | 4 | 1 | 4.34 | 6 | 45.2 | 40 | 5 | 14 | 53 | 1.18 | 3.79 |
| Pensacola | 1 | 1 | 6.19 | 1 | 16.0 | 17 | 1 | 7 | 24 | 1.50 | 3.43 |
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