One of the more challenging aspects of being a wretch - OK, the only challenging aspect of being a wretch - is being asked to predict the future.

For example, "Hey, jackass, how are the Donkeys going to do this year?"

I always say 10-6. It turns out to be right surprisingly often, and, if not, it's generally close.

But the truth is - and I hope I'm not bursting any bubbles here - that I have no idea. I have a hard enough time seeing the present.

So perhaps you'll understand my surprise when I looked out at the Rockies infield the other night and saw the future.

It was not an idea. Not a possibility. I'm telling you, this was a vision:

Troy Tulowitzki and Ian Stewart, a pair of 22-year-old California blue-chippers manning the left side of the infield for the next decade or so. For the kid Rocks, this is how it's supposed to be.

"Two guys that you could build around for many years," veteran Todd Helton agreed.

I don't know what that means for Garrett Atkins, the incumbent third baseman. I don't know what it means for Hector Gomez, the kid shortstop at low Single-A Asheville who people are comparing to Hanley Ramirez.

I do know this: Stewart is a better defensive third baseman than Atkins right now, and Tulowitzki at short is reminiscent of no one more than Cal Ripken.

"A pudgier Ripken, yeah," Helton said with a smile.

Defensively, the pair could be exceptional. Offensively, they could be better than that.

"People say it, but you don't think about it too much," Stewart said. "It'd be nice to play with him for many years or just be on the same team with him, whether I'm over at third or somewhere else."

"We have a lot of similarities," Tulowitzki said. "He's young, and we were good friends when we were in Modesto and Tulsa. Just to be with him here is awesome. It's kind of cool for the organization, too - two first-round guys helping the team out at the big-league level."

Manager Clint Hurdle is focused on more immediate concerns, but he's not oblivious to the promise.

"I don't get caught up in it a lot," he said, "but when they're out there taking groundballs, I kind of look at it and go, 'You know, those guys could be good out there on that side. They could make the decision-making process a lot simpler.' Tulowitzki already has."

If Tulo's emergence was the only good thing that happened to the kid Rocks this year - which it's not, but just saying - the year would be worthwhile. He's that good.

And Stewart, a steady glove and power left-handed bat, could give them solid left-side defense and a rare pair of serious run producers in the infield.

Assuming another big bat at first, they could provide enough infield power to allow the Rocks to deploy athletes rather than sluggers in the outfield, which is what defending Coors Field's vast spaces requires.

Although the Rocks have been bragging on their league-leading fielding percentage for much of the season, the truth is that they deploy natural first basemen at first, third and in right field. That's two first basemen too many.

It's also indisputable, as Josh Fogg proved again Wednesday night, that they don't have enough starting pitching. At some point, and probably sooner rather than later, they will need to trade some of their surplus offensive firepower for live arms.

With young position players such as Stewart, Ryan Spilborghs and Seth Smith about ready, that time could be this winter.

In the meantime, Stewart is trying to track Tulowitzki's impressive big-league learning curve. Tuesday, when Hurdle penciled him into the second spot in the lineup, Stewart approached his new manager with a question.

"He came up to me 20 minutes before the game and said, 'Hey, I've been meaning to ask you this all day, but is there anything specific you want me to do in the second slot?' " Hurdle recounted.

"I said, 'No, not really. I just want you to see the ball good and put your good swing on it. I don't want you up there working a walk. We're not going to hit and run. Just kind of take your at-bats the way you've been taking them at Triple-A.'

"I let him walk away, and then about a minute later, I said, 'Hey, how come you didn't ask me how I wanted you to hit in the seventh spot the first two games?' He said, 'Well, I've hit there before. This was kind of new, and I wanted to make sure I was on the same page with you.' "

Then he went out and hit a grand slam in his ninth big-league at-bat. All that ability, and coachable, too.

Frankly, planting these guys over there and letting them grow is a no-brainer. This seeing the future thing may be easier than it looks.

kriegerd@RockyMountainNews.com

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