Fresh off a 74-88 season, which put them in last place in the AL West, 18 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Colorado Rockies were not expected to compete for a division title. It was the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants who were looked at as favorites in the division.

The Giants had won two out of the past three World Series and the Dodgers had one of the best pitching staffs in baseball. At the beginning of the season, there simply wasn’t room for the Rockies atop the AL West.

However, here we are. The Rockies sit at 28-24 after rallying off 15 wins in 20 games in mid-April and into early-May. They trail the Giants, who lead the league with a 33-19 record, by five games, and the Dodgers by .5 games, as of Wednesday.

But the question remains: can the Rockies keep this momentum up? The Rockies offense has propelled them to success so far. The offense ranks first in the league in batting average, runs, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.

Much of this production has come from the Rockies’ star shortstop, Troy Tulowitzki, whose batting average sits at .373 this season. Tulowitzki leads the league in that category, as well as OPS (1.187) and wins above replacement (4.7) by large margins.

He also sits second in the NL in home runs (14) and third in the NL in RBIs (37). These numbers are not out of the ordinary for Tulowitzki, who has hit over .300 in a season three times and reached 20 home runs five times.

However, Tulowitzki is not alone. The Rockies have four other starters that are batting over .300 at the moment: Charlie Blackmon, Justin Morneau, Nolan Arenado and Michael Cuddyer. This is indicative of an offense that has enough depth to compete with any in the league.

But these are the positives for the Rockies. The negatives could be what hold them back from a run at a playoff spot.

Let’s start with the pitching staff, which ranks 22nd in the league in ERA. Jordan Lyles (3.45) leads a staff without a true ace; one that has allowed 214 runs. Lyles, the No. 5 starters, sits at 5-1 and Jorge De La Rosa, the No. 1, leads the team with six wins.

The Rockies need to be productive on offense and in the rotation, as the Giants and Dodgers rank in the top 11 in runs scored and ERA. These teams have strong pitching staffs and offenses to back them up.

The Rockies starters and bullpen have not been strong so far this season, but the offense has made it so that the team run differential is +37, fourth in the league. The offense has been hot all season, but no team has finished a season with their .298 team batting average since 2007. The Rockies need to combine both aspects of the game to be able to compete with the game's best.

The Rockies are also suffering from injuries to Arenado and Carlos Gonzalez, who both have dealt finger problems. Arenado is on the 15-day DL after breaking his finger sliding into a base last week and Gonzalez missed a few games because of his index finger. Gonzalez also left Tuesday’s game with a calf ailment.

There are many reasons to believe that the Rockies will eventually trend downwards, but the team has still managed a positive run differential. That may be the telling stat for the Rockies. Until that number falls, the Rockies should be looked at as a contender.