The Rockies are sitting at 43-48 on the season right now which has them in 3rd place in the N.L. West, 8.5 games behind the Giants. The Rockies are also 10.5 games behind the Braves in the Wild Card race. The Rockies could be either buyers or sellers based on the next three weeks. Here is a look at the players who made the biggest impact for the Rockies in the first half of the 2011 season:

Team MVP: 26-year old righty swinging shortstop Troy Tulowitzki is still the best player on the Rockies (Carlos Gonzalez is closing in on him). Tulowitzki has played in 86 games for the Rockies so far this year and he is 89 for 332 (.268 avg, .825 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 17 homers, 57 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Tulowitzki is the player the Rockies could least afford to lose.

Biggest Surprise: 37-year old lefty swinging 1B Todd Helton has looked like he was toast the last couple of years. But, he has come back with a vengeance this year. Helton has played in 80 games for the Rockies so far this year and he is 87 for 271 (.321 avg, .894 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 10 homers and 41 RBIs. The Rockies hope that Helton can stay healthy and finish strongly this year.

Biggest Disappointment: 26-year old lefty swinging 3B Ian Stewart had a solid year in 2010 and the Rockies were expecting even more out of him this year. But, that hasn’t happened! Stewart has played in 27 games for the Rockies so far this year and he is 7 for 66 (.106 avg, .339 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 0 homers, 1 RBI and 1 stolen base. He has whiffed 22 times already this year and he has spent more time in AAA than with the Rockies so far this year.

The Colorado Rockies split the first two games with the Diamondbacks and then they were snowed out yesterday. The Rockies outscored the D-Backs 9-8 in two hotly contested games. Chris Iannetta got off to a good start for the Rockies as he was 3 for 6 (.500 avg, 1.458 OPS) with 3 runs scored and 1 RBI. That is a good sign for the Rockies who really have no backup plan if he fails again in 2011. Carlos Gonzalez was 4 for 9 (.444 avg, 1.056 OPS) with 1 run scored and 1 stolen base so he got off to a decent start too. Seth Smith was 4 for 10 (.400 avg, 1.000 OPS) with 1 run scored and 1 RBI against the D-Backs.

The Rockies are 49-39 on the season which has them tied for second place in the N.L. West with the Dodgers, 2 games behind the Padres. The Rockies have had some surprises and disappointments and here’s a closer look at them:

Pleasant Surprises: 31-year old righty swinging catcher Miguel Olivo was supposed to share P.T. with Chris Iannetta behind the plate but he played so well that the Rockies sent Iannetta to AAA. Olivo has played in 63 games for the Rockies this year and he is 74 of 228 (.325 avg, .925 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 11 homers, 42 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. 25-year old switch hitting 2B Jonathan Herrera has really stepped up when getting the chance to play due to Troy Tulowitzki’s injury. Herrera has played in 32 games for the Rockies this year and he is 36 of 113 (.319 avg, .701 OPS) with 14 runs scored and 10 RBIs. 30-year old righty reliever Matt Belisle is pitching the best baseball of his major league career for the Rockies in 2010. Belisle has pitched in 42 games (0 starts) for the Rockies this year and he is 4-4 with 1 save, a 2.63 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. 33-year old lefty reliever Joe Beimel has also been outstanding out of the pen for the Rockies this year. He has pitched in 39 games (0 starts) for the Rockies this year and he is 1-0 with a 2.28 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP.

Disappointments: 36-year old lefty swinging 1B Todd Helton appears to be getting near to the end of the line. He has played in 69 games for the Rockies this year and he is 61 of 248 (.246 avg, .646 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 2 homers and 16 RBIs. 24-year old switch hitting Dexter Fowler started the season as the starting CF for the Rockies but he got sent to the minors after a slow start. Fowler has played in 59 games for the Rockies this year and he is 44 of 189 (.233 avg, .734 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 2 homers, 10 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. 27-year old righty swinging Chris Iannetta is back in the majors but he has been a big disappointment for the Rockies this year. Iannetta has played in 26 games for the Rockies this year and he is 18 of 87 (.207 avg, .772 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 6 homers and 13 RBIs. 24-year old lefty reliever Franklin Morales has been awful this year for the Rockies. He has pitched in 23 games (0 starts) for the Rockies this year and he is 0-3 with 3 saves, a 6.75 ERA and a 1.88 WHIP. Morales has walked a stunningly bad 18 batters in only 21 1/3 innings this season for the Rockies.

The Rockies are stuck at .500 on the year as they are 6-6. They are tied with the Rockies and Padres, 2 games behind the Giants in the N.L. West. The Rockies have outscored their opponents 58-48 this season so it’s time they start winning more games. This could be the week for that as the Rockies play 4 games in Washington before returning home this coming weekend to deal with the Marlins for 3 games.

The Rockies made it out of the first week of the season with a 3-3 record despite outscoring the opposition 29-22. The Rockies need to be more consistent offensively if they are going to make the pitching stand up. The Rockies will host the New York Mets starting tomorrow for 3 games then they will travel to Atlanta this weekend to play the Braves. The Rockies need to go at least 4-2 this week.