Rockie’s righthanded pitcher Scott Oberg underwent surgery on Thursday-evening to treat a recurrence of blood clots in his right elbow that kept him out of Major League-action since August 2019. It’s his fourth battle with the condition.
The surgery, performed at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona, is likely to end the career of Oberg, whose 259 games are the most of any Rockies pitcher since making his debut in 2015.
Oberg, 30, was one of the Majors’ top relievers in 2018 and ’19 before the condition, which first flared up in ’18, returned and ended its season. Oberg was seemingly close to a comeback last August when the situation flared up again.
In September, Oberg underwent surgery at the University of Pennsylvania for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. The hope was that by having doctors remove the top rib on his right side, some of the narrowing that led to the clots would go away.
This spring, Oberg played four scoreless performances, the last on Monday. Oberg struckout four, hit one batter and held opponents on two hits in his four innings this spring, and appeared to be healthy enough to start the season. But then the flare-up happened Thursday night.
In 2018 and ’19, Oberg went 14-2 with a 2.35 ERA in 105 appearances. His ERA is the fifth lowest of the pitchers with at least 100 innings since ’18. Oberg’s 3.85 ERA is seventh lowest in club history among pitchers with at least 200 innings.