Scott Oberg had a breakout season in 2018. The 28-year-old right-hander came out of the Colorado bullpen 56 times and put up a 2.45 ERA and a 2.87 FIP. Working primarily in a set-up role — 45 of his appearances were in the seventh or eighth inning — he was on the winning side of all but one of his nine decisions.

His signature pitch is a slider. Oberg threw the late-breaker 37.4% of the time last year, often flummoxing opposing hitters who mistakenly read fastball out of his hand. According to the University of Connecticut product, that has been the key to his success. Oberg’s slider has emerged as a lethal weapon not just because he’s learned to manipulate it better — he’s also improved his fastball command.

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Oberg on learning his slider: “I was introduced to a slider in 2014, when I was in Double-A. I’d always been more of a curveball guy. At an earlier age, I guess it was easier to spin the ball that way, versus being very fine with a slider. It took a few years of maturing to get it to the point where it is now.

“As it was progressing, I started realizing that my slider and curveball were kind of morphing into each other a little bit. As a result, we ended up putting the curveball on the shelf and focusing solely on the slider. This was two seasons ago.

“In theory, you throw [sliders and curveballs] differently. There are different arm motions, different hand placements on the ball. With different finger placements, there isn’t as much confusion. That’s a problem I was having. The grips on my slider and my curveball were very similar. There wasn’t enough distinction between the two pitches in my hand.

“It came to the point where I was kind of slurving both pitches. My slider was getting bigger and slower, and throwing a curveball off of that … there really wasn’t a huge difference outside of maybe some speed, and a little bit of depth. I wasn’t getting the full benefits of either pitch.”

On varying the shape of his slider: “Putting the primary focus on the slider — much like I’d come up having thrown a curveball my whole life — I was able to create the muscle memory for throwing the pitch. The grip isn’t unique. I basically played it off of the way I used to hold my curveball, which is right up along one of the seams. Then I just kind of tilt the ball a little bit, so that I’m kind of in the corner of the seam. All the pressure is coming off the middle finger.

“As time has gone by, it’s gotten to where now I can manipulate it a little bit. I can make it go down, make it go side-to-side, throw it backdoor. Having gotten a comfort level with the slider, I can make the smaller adjustments for the pitch to break certain ways.”

“If I’m trying to make the ball go straight down, mentally I’m trying to make sure that my middle finger is staying on top of the ball a little longer. Pulling it down, I’m kind of getting a curled wrist right at the end. If I’m trying to go backdoor, or get a little side-to-side, I won’t come over the top of the ball as much. It’s a subtle difference. It’s almost as though I’m guiding it to go a certain way. I’m not babying the pitch, but rather than getting on top to kind of force it down, I’m getting a little on the side of it. The depth is still going to be there, just because of the nature of the pitch. At the same time, I’m getting more horizontal break. Now I’m working on two different planes.

“Sometimes it’s a batter thing, but I’ll change the shape of my slider within an at-bat, too. If I start a guy off with a slider, I may manipulate it so that it starts in the zone and finishes in the zone. It won’t have as much break as the one I throw with two strikes. Ahead in the count, I may try to drop it right on the plate. It will be, ‘OK, I’m going to get on top of the pitch with my fingers here, and drive this thing down.’”

On tunneling and sequencing: “Regardless of how it comes out, it’s typically within the same [velocity] range. If my fastball is 95 [mph], my slider is usually 86-88. I think 87 is ideal. That creates enough differential from the fastball in terms of speeding down. It’s also not too hard to where I’m throwing it through the break. That speed allows me to manipulate the ball enough to where I can miss a bat. I can make it appear to be a strike for a long enough time, then break out of the zone.

“With the combination of better fastball command, and throwing the slider more — getting more comfortable with it; figuring out the things I do well with it versus the things I don’t — it’s gotten to the point where I can effectively play my slider off of my fastball. With consistent fastball command, I can tunnel my slider off of it. I can get it to appear like a fastball the majority of the way, which puts me in a better position to execute the pitch.

“I think my slider is the reason I’ve struck more guys out, but getting there — getting to the back end of a count — has been all about fastball command. If I’m not able to get ahead with fastballs — put them in good locations — that takes away from the effectiveness of my slider. I’m not going to be able to tunnel it as effectively if I’m spraying my fastball around. If I can locate a fastball down and away, now I can throw my slider on the same line and the batter has to respect the fastball, because I just threw it there. Ideally he’ll be reacting to a fastball, but the pitch is falling out of the zone.

“Data plays a role in how I sequence. I’m looking at some of the weaknesses the hitters are showing from a statistical standpoint. But if I’m feeling comfortable with a pitch, it doesn’t matter as long as I’m not falling into a trap by throwing the same pitch over and over again. As long as I’m mixing my pitches and changing speeds — if I’m commanding my fastball and tunneling my slider off the same plane — what I’m doing is going to be beneficial in the long run.”