BSN Exclusive: How one Rockies reliever used a demotion as fuel to emerge as a vital piece

DENVER – Since the middle of last month, the Colorado Rockies have sent tried to charm, cajole, browbeat and flat out plead for any meaningful help from the bullpen. In the Rockies’ case, the ‘B’ stands for “beleaguered” whenever mentioning the bullpen.

The search continues for a reliable answer to who bridges the gap between a starting rotation that has found its groove and the backend featuring Adam Ottavino and Wade Davis.

At the moment of publication, though, it seems the man for that job—all other things being even—is Scott Oberg.

Unless a string of lefties is on the slate, that is who manager Bud Black has been turning to the past few weeks, and it has quietly been working very well, thank you very much. Prayers answered, one might say.

Since returning from the DL on May 29, Oberg has given up just one earned run on 10 hits over 14.1 innings of work.

I asked him if he feels as good as he ever has in his career and responded that he was getting to that place right when injury struck.

“I felt like that even once I had come back up from Triple-A, right before going on the DL,” he said. “I made a few adjustments down there, kind of worked on my mental side of things, just made sure that I used time down there to solidify some of the things that the organization wanted to see from me and what I wanted to see from myself. It’s kind of nice right now to see some fruits of the labor.

He knows, too, that his production, however under the radar, has come at a vital time when so many of his bullpen brethren are struggling.

“Yeah, you know, every time you take the ball, you’re pitching for the team, not for yourself,” he says. “So, obviously the bullpen has kind of been shaky, up and down this year, so anytime that I can go in and help the team and try to pick some guys up, that’s what I’m going out there to try and do.”

And as he has successfully picked up his teammates he has found the importance of his role increase.

In a divisional game against the Giants, with Ottavino unavailable to pitch, Oberg was asked to step into the shoes of one of the best relievers in the National League. And he passed the test with a quick inning.

He did give up a leadoff single in that inning, something that has been a bad omen for many Rockies pitchers this season. But he used his power-pitching method to get the double play ball he needed.

“With that particular situation because of where they’re at in the line-up, I knew they weren’t going to be bunting,” he laughs. “Those guys really have swung the bat well all season. So, I just wanted to start them off with a pitch that I thought maybe I could get a ground ball on. Things kind of happened and got a double-play on it.”

His ability to handle those situations better has been key. His 3.20 ERA on the season reveals that he hasn’t exactly been knocked around. But he has struggled to strand runners, which relievers must do. Since his return, he has allowed just one inherited base runner to score, getting some help from Nolan Arenado in Thursday’s series-clincher over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

He keeps getting the results, which means Black is likely to keep handing him the ball, saying after Friday night’s win over Seattle that he expect Oberg to play a vital role in the stretch run.

“It feels good that Bud’s got that confidence in me,” Oberg said. “I have that confidence in myself. I feel like my teammates have that confidence in me, so I’m just trying to go out and compete, throw strikes and give all that I’ve got every night.”