Can these 7 upstart rookies sustain their success?

Trevor Story was the biggest story of the first week of the season. The Rockies shortstop became the first player to go yard twice on Opening Day in his big league debut — off Zack Greinke, no less — then proceeded to set homer records for most consecutive games with one at the start of a career (four), most in first four contests (six) and most in first six games (seven).

No one could maintain that torrid pace, of course. Story has gone 8-for-35 (.229) with 17 strikeouts since, maintaining his Major League lead in homers (eight) and total bases (47) but also in whiffs (25). He’s more than just a Tuffy Rhodes-esque mirage, however.

Story may rank just 11th on the Rockies’ Top 30 Prospect list, according to MLBPipeline.com, but that’s more a testament to baseball’s deepest farm system than to any glaring red flags in his scouting report. A supplemental first-round pick (45th overall) in 2011, he recorded a 20-20 season between Double-A New Britain and Triple-A Albuquerque last year.

While he probably won’t keep up with Bryce Harper among the National League home run leaders all season long, Story does have one of the quickest bats in Colorado’s organization and possesses legitimate 20-homer pop. He’ll pile up some strikeouts, but he draws walks, has the instincts to translate average speed into stolen bases and gets the job done at shortstop. Story has turned Jose Reyes into Wally Pipp and can be the Rockies’ long-term starter at short, though Brendan Rodgers (the No. 3 overall pick in the 2015 Draft) may eventually have something to say about that.

Story is far from the only unheralded rookie off to a surprisingly fast start. Let’s take a look at six more and their chances of sustaining success.

1. Aledmys Diaz, SS, Cardinals When Jhonny Peralta tore a ligament in his left thumb in March and required surgery that will sideline him for the first half of the season, Diaz became St. Louis’ best all-around option at shortstop. A better hitter than Ruben Tejada and a better defender than Jedd Gyorko, he leads the Cardinals in all three slash stats at .385/.429/.744.

A Cuban defector who signed a four-year, $8 million contract in 2014, Diaz missed much of his first pro season with a shoulder injury, and he didn’t start hitting like St. Louis hoped until the club designated him for assignment last July to make room for …

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