Oberg replaces struggling Davis as Rockies’ closer

Struggling Rockies reliever Wade Davis has been removed from his closer role, replaced by right-hander Scott Oberg, manager Bud Black said before Friday’s game against San Francisco at Coors Field.

“For the time being, Scott Oberg will look to pitch later in the game, potentially in the ninth inning,” Black said. “Wade is going to take a step back and we will see where this goes for the short term.”

Davis, who owns a 6.82 ERA — and an 11.29 ERA at Coors Field — allowed five runs on two home runs in the ninth inning in Colorado’s 5-1 loss to the Dodgers on Wednesday. Scott Oberg, meanwhile, is 5-1 with a 1.59 ERA this season, including a 1.63 ERA at Coors Field.

Though Davis has been terrible at home, where’s he’s given up four home runs in 18L innings with a .329 batting average against, he’s been excellent on the road, serving up only one homer with a .178 average against across 13L innings.

“We’ve talked about this — Wade and I, and the pitching coaches — to try to identify it,” Black said. “It’s a little bit perplexing. It just might be one of those years.

“But the thing that stands out for me is that the walk totals, both home and road, are a little high. And we’ve addressed that with Wade, and Wade can’t come up with an answer, either, why that’s happening.”

Davis is averaging 5.7 walks per inning, a number that’s unsustainable for any reliever, but especially for a ninth-inning pitcher.

“We’ve looked at mechanics. We’ve looked at mindset. We’ve looked at a lot of different things,” Black said. “When it’s the final inning, every pitch matters, because it’s the finality of the game. Whether Wade is trying to be too fine — we have talked about that — but only Wade knows.”

Oberg, 28, who’s been a reliever ever since his days at the University of Connecticut, has been preparing for this chance for a long time.

“Having closing experience in the minor leagues gave me a sense of it,” he said. “And in my case, I’ve was a reliever all through college and I was drafted as a reliever. So the back end of the bullpen has always been on my mind.”

Although Oberg has three saves this season, he’s also blown three saves, so he knows that being a full-time closer means more pressure and scrutiny.

“It’s different at the end of the game, but I would try to treat it like any other outing and pitch my game,” he said. “The key is that you have to get ahead, especially here at Coors. That’s key. And you can’t walk guys. I’ve run into that situation before here where it’s walks and homers, and then you’re dead meat.”

Black said that while the Rockies have discussed using a “two-headed closer,” with Oberg pitching at Coors and Davis pitching on the road, they ultimately decided against it because Black likes his relievers to know their roles.

“When you go to work, you sort of know what the expectation is that day — where you will fit into that game,” he said. “For the time being, it’s probably best to have one guy, if he’s rested and all those things.”

Arenado’s workload.

All-star third baseman Nolan Arenado, who’s started in 105 of Colorado’s 110 games, acknowledged Wednesday that he’s worn out and been beaten up by minor injuries, and said that he probably should have taken more days off.

“Personally, I wish I did a better at taking a day here or there, maybe two days,” Arenado said. “I just thought I needed to be out there and help the team win. But there’s times where I probably should’ve taken a couple days or something, and tried to rest my body and get it right. But, you live and you learn.”

Black said, in retrospect, that he wishes he’d given Arenado more time off.

“It’s admirable, his desire to play,” Black said. “What a great trait, to be that player who wants to grind through this baseball season. But there were probably some times where Nolan was banged up … where I could have done a better job of mandating. Saying, ‘Hey, you’re not playing today.’ I could have done a better job.”