Oberg flashes right stuff while Davis is closer
Mariano Rivera threw a magical cutter, Trevor Hoffman baffled batters with his hide-and-seek changeup and Rich “Goose” Gossage blew them away with his fastball.
Those all-time greats shared two things in common: They wanted the ball with the game on the line, and they flashed a nasty streak.
The Rockies believe right-hander Scott Oberg has that kind of attitude.
“Every time Scotty comes in, he has that killer attitude,” starting pitcher Kyle Freeland said. “You can just see it on his face. It’s like he’s (ticked) off. That goes hand-in-hand with his delivery, which is kind of in-your-face and aggressive.”
For now, however, manager Bud Black’s plan is for veteran Wade Davis, 34, to open the season as Colorado’s ninth-inning man. Despite Davis’ epic struggles last season — 8.65 ERA overall, 11.10 ERA at Coors Field — Black is confident Davis will bounce back, which leaves Oberg as the setup man.
Black is a big believer in track records, and Davis’ role in helping the Royals win the 2015 World Series, his three All-Star Game nods and a National League-high 43 saves with the Rockies in 2018 carry a lot of weight.
“For me, the most awesome thing is to be good for a long period to time — not just snippets,” Black said.
“Do we all get excited about snippets? Yeah, but let’s turn it into a thousand snippets.”
That’s why, early in spring training, it would be misleading to say that Davis, who has 137 career saves, is on a short leash. But if Davis struggles during the regular season, Oberg will be the next man up.
“I want to continue building off what I did last year,” Oberg said, noting that he has leaned on Davis as a mentor. “I want to tighten things up a little bit, because I think my walks were a little high last year (3.17 per nine innings). But at the end of the day, I just have to make quality pitches.”
Oberg said he is completely recovered from the blood clot issue that required season-ending surgery Aug. 16.
While Davis scuffled last season, Oberg continued to ascend. In 105 appearances since 2018, he’s 14-2 with a 2.35 ERA, ranking fifth among big-league relievers in that span (minimum 100 appearances). He took over for Davis as the closer in the second half of last season, notching five saves in eight chances. He was 5-0 with four saves and a 1.71 ERA at Coors Field and didn’t give up a home run at home in 28 appearances.
Asked if Oberg has displayed more than a snippet of success, Black provided a definitive “yes.”