Jason Jennings is a league average starter. If he stays healthy, which he has except for last year, there's a ton of value in that. Jeff Francis has the tools to be a #1 guy, but he's very young. With a better defense and a slightly more reliably offense, we're already beginning to see him blossom. Aaron Cook has the best stuff in the rotation. It's easy to forget that he was near death last year, so we may not have seen the best of him yet. Byung-Hyun Kim has great stuff as well, but psychologically he's fragile. If he gains momentum, like he did last year, watch out. Josh Fogg is the only guy I didn't feel optimistic about going into the season. It has shocked me how well he has pitched. After all, he was turfed out by the talent-poor Pirates not so long ago. He might turn into a pumpkin at any moment, but unlike last year, the Rockies have some contingency plans in AAA. Miguel Asencio and Sun-Woo Kim hardly provide Oakland-like depth, but they're better the Jamey Wrights and Joe Kennedys that Colorado was throwing out last season.

As far as the offense goes, any discussion of pleasant surprises has to begin with Jamey Carroll. Wow. Frank Robinson threw a hissy fit when the Nationals sold him to Colorado, and obviously he knew what he was doing. Carroll has been on base constantly and has played great defense at second. He's also had a great impact on a very young team by being a veteran who plays like a rookie. The dude hustles. I'm not one for "hustle" ballplayers with no other obvious talents, but if you hit leadoff and your OBP is .396, you're clearly helping your team win.

Matt Holliday and Brad Hawpe I think everybody who followed the Rockies closely the last two years expected to keep getting better. The question with those fellows was always going to be can they get it done on the road, away from the thin air and the spacious alleys of Coors Field. This year, they are. Hawpe has also emerged as one of the best defensive rightfielders in the NL. The teams in the West just don't run on his arm any more, and the teams in the AL and the other NL divisions have done so at their peril. Cory Sullivan hasn't hit as well as he did down the stretch last year, but his defense is terrific and he's among the league leaders in successful sacrifice bunts. I wish the Rockies didn't bunt as often as they do, but you do get a charge out of seeing Carroll single or walk, Sullivan move him over, and Helton or Holliday kock him in. And it's happened a lot.

Garrett Atkins, another second-year player, is having a great year at third base. He needs to, because the Rockies have loads of talent at his position in the minors. I think he'll be trade bait sooner or later but for the time being he's a top-half guy at a position that is experiencing a major renaissance at the moment.

The guys who have struggled most are Clint Barmes and the catchers. Barmes I think we all got a little overexcited about when he jumped off to an amazingly hot start last year. He then got hurt and missed most of the second half, so we never really got a chance to see what an "average" Clint Barmes season would look like. He's playing a little below what I imagine his true level is right now and he ought to have a better second half. Still, he's not a building block the way Hawpe, Francis, Cook, and Holliday are. Troy Tulowitzki will have his spot fairly soon.

I'd be remiss in not mentioning the bullpen, which has been great. I thought signing ancient Jose Mesa was a terrible idea and he's been lights-out as a setup man. So what do I know? Clint Hurdle, who has some other failings as a manager, has handled a sort of oddly constructed bullpen very well. He's used rookies like Scott Dohmann and Ramon Ramirez, journeymen like Tom Martin and Ray King, and the big guys, Mesa and Brian Fuentes, so that everybody has a role and everybody gets to pitch when it counts every now and then. They have the best bullpen in the National League West and if anything is going to win them the division, that ought to be it.

Before the season I wrote that I expected to see them win 75 games. Now I think 85 isn't an unrealistic hope. If that wins them the division, which it could, so be it. I wouldn't trade anyone valuable just for the sake of contending this season. They might make the playoffs, sure, but they're not going to win the World Series. Tulowitzki, Ian Stewart, Ubaldo Jimenez, and Manuel Corpas should all arrive in the big leagues before Fuentes and Holliday go off in search of more money. That's when they'll be primed to strike, be it next year or 2008. I'm happy that they're playing well this year, but the best is really yet to come.