Scott Michael Oberg (born March 13, 1990) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

. He currently serves as a special assistant to baseball operations for the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fi ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

(MLB) for 5 seasons with the Rockies. Oberg played college baseball at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

Career

College

Oberg played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

at the

for the Huskies from 2009 to 2012. In 2009, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operate ...

with the Bourne Braves of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thous ...

. In 2011, he underwent

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's ...

Colorado Rockies

Oberg was drafted by the

in the 15th round of the

2012 Major League Baseball draft The 2012 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 4 through June 6, 2012, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Houston Astros, with the first overall pick, selected Carlos Correa from the Puert ...

. He signed with the Rockies and made his professional debut with the Grand Junction Rockies. In 2013, he played for the Modesto Nuts. Pitching for the Double-A

Tulsa Drillers The Tulsa Drillers are a minor league baseball team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers major-league club. Stadium The Drillers play at ONEOK Field (pronounc ...

in 2014, Oberg appeared in only 27 games due to injury. When the Rockies placed John Axford on family leave on April 12, 2015, the Rockies promoted Oberg to the major leagues. Oberg finished his rookie year with an ERA of 5.09 and notched 44 strikeouts in 58.1 innings of work. In 2016 for Colorado, Oberg recorded a 5.19 ERA with 20 strikeouts across 26.0 innings of work. In the 2017 season, Oberg appeared in 66 games for the Rockies, with an ERA below 5.00 for the first time in his career (4.94), and a career-high in strikeouts (55). In 2018 for Colorado, Oberg recorded an 8-1 record with a stellar 2.45 ERA and a new career-high in strikeouts (57) in 58.2 major league innings. Oberg was the winning pitcher in the

2018 National League Wild Card Game The 2018 National League Wild Card Game was a play-in game during Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2018 postseason between the National League's two wild card teams, the Colorado Rockies and the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs earned home field advantage b ...

against the Chicago Cubs, becoming the first reliever to win a postseason game when facing at least four batters and striking out all of them. On January 10, 2019, Oberg agreed to a $1.3MM contract to avoid arbitration with the Rockies. On August 19, 2019, the Rockies placed Oberg on the 60-day injured list due to issues with blood clots in his arms, ending his season. In 2019, Oberg produced a 6–1 record with a 2.25 ERA, 5 saves, and 58 strikeouts in 56 innings. Oberg began the 2020 season on the injured list and was placed on the 45-day injured list with blood clots in his right arm, shutting down his 2020 season without making an appearance. On March 26, 2021, Oberg underwent surgery to treat blood clots in his pitching elbow, the third surgery Oberg has had to treat blood clots. On March 27, Oberg was placed on the 60-day injured list with his career in jeopardy after undergoing the surgery. On November 8, 2022, the Rockies declined Oberg’s team option, and he became a free agent for the first time in his career.

Post-playing career

On January 10, 2023, Oberg took to Instagram to announce his retirement, “I have accepted a part-time position with the Rockies and will no longer be pursuing the game I’ve loved my whole life, as a player. — Unfortunately the numerous blood clots I suffered over the course of my career has made playing untenable.” Oberg wrote. His official role was listed as a special assistant to baseball operations. Oberg had not played professionally in 3 seasons at the time of his retirement.

Personal

Oberg and his wife, Diana, have one daughter together. They reside in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

in the offseason.

References

External links

UConn Huskies bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oberg, Scott 1990 births Living people People from Tewksbury, Massachusetts Sportspeople from Middlesex County, Massachusetts Baseball players from Massachusetts Major League Baseball pitchers Colorado Rockies players UConn Huskies baseball players Bourne Braves players Grand Junction Rockies players Modesto Nuts players Tulsa Drillers players Albuquerque Isotopes players