2007 was just an appetizer. It's time to move onto the second course. As of right now, whether a game gets played at all seems a bit iffy given St. Louis' weather situation -much of the Midwest is rather wet right now- but we'll put the thread up nonetheless. Why can't Mother Nature understand where her priorities should be today?

Okay, so the bar's been raised this season, everybody will need to step up to make certain that this season is as successful or more than 2007:

Willy Taveras: Needs to be in at least 140 games. I hope 150. If we see too much of Scott Podsednik, we could be in trouble.

Troy Tulowitzki: In his sophomore season, Tulo needs to be more consistent offensively.  I'm pretty confident that his year at the plate will come in north of the projections I've seen. Combined with similar confidence in Jayson Nix, I think this is a big part of why the Rockies are being too heavily discounted this season by some.

Todd Helton: The Toddfather just needs to keep on getting on. Everything else will work out so long as he keeps that OBP in the top 5 in the NL.

Matt Holliday: I don't what we should be expecting, but something akin to last season seems about right.

Garrett Atkins: I'm expecting a small decline by Garrett offensively, and stagnation on defense. Stepping up for him in my book would be maintaining his 2006-2007 performance at the plate with a defensive improvement.

Brad Hawpe: Hit well against LHP's

Yorvit Torrealba: Taking a few more walks, being a bit more selective would be huge for our chances. Yorvit hits some of the division's best pitchers surprisingly well, and he's notoriously bad against junkballers. He can't let the guys with bad stuff beat him as often.

Jayson Nix: My expectations are pretty high for Nix compared to what most people seem to be penciling him in for. I honestly think he can get between 15-20 HR's this year and a healthy amount of doubles. That said, a lot of his value will come in forcing opponents to deal with the ninth slot.

Bench: As long as our bench keeps us from pining for the starters is a good start. If we're considering jumping off of high buildings or bridges with every injury, we'll want to rethink our depth chart.

I'll do something similar come Wednesday's thread with our pitchers, but right now I'm just eager to see my Rockies playing again in games that matter.

Go Rockies!