Can right-hander Oberg harness his raw power?

GOODYEAR, ARIZ.» Talk to any member of the Rockies’ bullpen about right-hander Scott Oberg and they’re bound to rave about his stuff.

“Great fastball, overpowering, really,” left-hander Jake Mcgee said recently. “When he puts it all together, he’s going to be really good.” Manager Bud Black concurs. “With Scott last year, we saw flashes of really dominant pitching, and then other times we saw him get banged around a little bit,” Black said Saturday. “You cannot deny the stuff. He’s got a big arm, he’s got the weapons. Now it’s just a matter of putting it all together.”

Oberg certainly “flashed” in September last season when he posted a 2.25 ERA in 13 appearances, striking out 11 hitters in 12L innings. When starter Jon Gray faltered early in the National League wild-card game at Arizona, Black went to Oberg, hoping to keep the Rockies in the game. Oberg delivered, striking out both Paul Goldschmidt and J.D. Martinez to strand Ketel Marte on third base in the second inning.

“I’ve learned a lot and worked on a lot of things,” said Oberg, whose fastball averaged 96.9 mph last season. “I’ve concentrated on getting ahead, and I realize how crucial first-pitch strikes are. That’s something I improved on last year.

“I think that last month of the season is where I progressed, tremendously. When I got sent down (to Triple-a) for a few weeks, I think that helped me.”

Oberg finished the 2017 season with a 4.94 ERA, a number that was skewed by his early struggles. He averaged 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings, a big improvement from his rate of just fewer than seven his first two seasons in the majors.

Bottom line: Oberg seems poised to become a dependable late-game reliever.

Let’s play two. While center fielder Charlie Blackmon and left fielder-first baseman Ian Desmond are easing into spring training, not playing in either of the first two Cactus League games, Nolan Arenado has jumped right in. The third baseman was back in the lineup Saturday, despite the long drive from Scottsdale to Goodyear.

“That’s just Nolan wanting to get going,” Black said. “We talked prior to these games and I asked him, ‘When do you want to take the blanket off and get going?’ He said, ‘I’d like the play the first two games.’ I said, ‘OK.’ ”

Desmond could be in the lineup Sunday when the Rockies travel to Surprise to play Texas, while Blackmon will likely make his Cactus League debut Monday when Colorado plays Arizona at Salt River Fields.

Tribute to K.T. Black departed Arizona after Saturday’s game for San Diego, where he will speak at a memorial service for Kevin Towers, who died Jan. 30 after a 14-month battle against a rare form of thyroid cancer. Towers was the Padres’ general manager from 1995-2009. He was 56.

“We had a lot in common from the get-go. Our hobbies, what we liked, our era — it was all on the same timeline,” Black said. “In a lot of ways, we had the same sense of humor. (We shared) what makes us tick. We had a lot of commonalities.

“Then once I got to know him, I realized he was a great competitor, and a team guy. A lot of the things that I would like to think that I am, he was.”