Are Colvin and Fowler legitimate or mirages

Tyler Colvin home-run binge continues

The Colorado Rockies beat Washington Nationals' phenom Stephen Strasburg on Friday with power and from two developing hitters - outfielders Tyler Colvin and Dexter Fowler. Those two are showing Rockies' fans the long driving that no one thought they would provide in 2012.

Colvin hit two homers and now has 13 on the season and 6 in his last 9 games. He has those 13 in only 180 at-bats and hitting them off Strasburg makes his Friday even more impressive.

Fowler hit no. 11, five more than he has ever had before in a season. He now has more homers than doubles (10) and triples (9).

Not lost in that victory was Drew Pomeranz's strong effort - 6 innings of one-hit, shutout ball. Since returning from Triple-A, Pomeranz has allowed only 3 hits and one unearned run in 12 1/3 innings. He has only struck out 7 and has walked 5 but no earned runs over that span of work is highly commendable considering his performance was rough in the minors.

So is Colvin on his way to 20-25 home runs? Is he a future star in Colorado or is he a Seth Smith clone, someone whom fans and the front office believe only needs more time to blossom only to later prove that the player is more effective as a backup?

Is Fowler going to maintain his .288 average and end up with 17 or more homers? Or is he going to remain an enigma?

The Rockies' answers to those questions will determine if they listen to trade offers with an open mind or not

Is Pomeranz going to keep pitching this well? It seems such a strange twist from struggling in the minors. Maybe Pomeranz was bored down there and this is the real him but then again, maybe not. I think, for as well as he's pitched in his last two outings, he's going to have some up-and-down days ahead. The key is do you see an upward trend in positive performances, and volume of them, showing development?

Rockies' Prospects Spotlight

Rockies' 2012 draftees Eddie Butler (46th overall pick) and Ryan Warner (3rd-round selection) each threw 4 strong innings at rookie-league Grand Junction. Butler scattered 2 hits and didn't allow a walk or a run. Warner, meanwhile, allowed only 1 run, on a homer.

Nick Schmidt (Huston Street trade) gave up 4 runs in 5 innings at Triple-A Colorado Springs. In 2 starts since being promoted from Double-A, Schmidt has allowed ten runs in 11 innings for a 8.18 ERA.

Josh Outman walked 3 and gave up 3 runs in 4 2/3 innings at Double-A Tulsa.

A footnote - Charlie Blackmon, after a rough start at Tri-City coming back from injury is now at Triple-A.