Scott Oberg

Oberg entered 2018 with only two saves in his career, but he earned his way into the closer's role amid Wade Davis' struggles, only to see his season end six weeks early due to a blood clot. Oberg doesn't believe the issue will impact him in 2020, and signed a three-year, $13 million extension this offseason with a team option for 2023. He had a 2.25 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and posted the best strikeout rate (26.0%) of his career, recording five saves before moving to the IL. The right-hander's fastball has dropped about two mph (to 94.4 mph) over the past two seasons while he's become more reliant on his 86-mph slider. Oberg doesn't profile as a typical closer, but there's some comfort in the fact he has a 2.35 ERA and 1.04 WHIP over the past two seasons on a team that routinely struggles to find pitching. Jairo Diaz projects to be his top competition for the ninth inning.

Oberg is a two-pitch reliever who throws everything hard and has become progressively better year over year. His quality fastball and slider held righties to a .182/.283/.286 line last season -- he commands both pitches and his stuff gets on righties in a hurry. This was on full display in the NL Wild Card Game when he came in and struck out all four Chicago batters he faced in that game to help Colorado advance to the NLDS. If something were to happen to Wade Davis, Oberg seems best positioned to step into the closer role. As is Oberg has the skills to be an effective member of a NL-only pitching staff. He pitches in a lot of high-leverage spots with his ability to get both groundballs and strikeouts to help quiet rallies. That is how he was able to get eight wins last season in under 60 innings of work.

Oberg's minor league numbers insinuate that he's primed to be a high-leverage reliever in the Colorado bullpen, but for the second season in a row, the right-hander failed to take the final step toward making that happen. The 27-year-old spent 2016 shuttling between Triple-A Albuquerque and the major leagues, and while his 2.43 ERA and 11.1 K/9 with the Isotopes turned heads, he couldn't transfer that success into the majors during any of his stints in Denver. His ERA jumped to 5.19 while his strikeout rate went south of a strikeout per inning (thanks mostly due to a 7.36 ERA at home), keeping him out of a high-leverage role for most of the season. To end things on a sour note, Oberg's campaign was cut short due to axillary artery thrombosis in his pitching arm, clouding his status heading into 2017. If he is ready for spring training right away, he'll need to prove he can keep the ball in the park at Coors Field, or else he'll be destined to serve as a Quad-A pitcher going forward.

A 2012 15th-round draft pick, Oberg performed much better at each level of the minors than his draft position would imply. That success didn't translate into the majors, however. The right-hander bounced between Triple-A and the majors but amassed most of his work with the Rockies, pitching 58.1 innings with Colorado versus just eight with Albuquerque. He had trouble with the longball all season (10 homers allowed), which translated into a rough 5.09 ERA and 1.53 WHIP in the majors. Oberg finished the year strong, though, posting a 0.79 ERA over his last 14 appearances, so if he can keep the ball in the park and continue his success at the end of the year, Oberg could be relied on more heavily in the Rockies' bullpen.