Things were looking up — a four game sweep capped off by consecutive walk-off home runs provided some hope that maybe this team could win big. Maybe Toronto’s veteran core has one more run left in the tank. However, after dropping a three-game set at the hands of the Angels and losing Troy Tulowitzki for perhaps the entire season, that hope may be out the window.

According to Shi Davidi, the two months left of baseball will likely prove too short a recovery period for Tulowitzki, meaning his 2017 campaign has ended. Not with a bang, but with a collision with C.J. Cron at first base.

#BlueJays say MRI showed Troy Tulowitzki suffered ligament damage to his right ankle. He'll be further evaluated by foot/ankle specialist.

— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) July 30, 2017

Following an MRI that revealed ligament damage to his right ankle, some may have closed the book on the season — a book that contains a season teeming with injuries. A middle infield duo of Ryan Goins, Rob Refsnyder and Darwin Barney is undesirable to say the least.

And the book is closed for good reason.

It’s not that Tulowitzki has been a superstar by any respect this season. He has only seven home runs and is batting a pedestrian .249 in 241 at-bats. The Blue Jays have won 49 games; Tulowitzki hasn’t been a large factor in any of them.

Why, of all injuries, does that of a mediocre shortstop end Toronto’s season?

If the Blue Jays are going to make a run, they need all their big bats to set on fire. The hole that they have dug for themselves is far too large. At the very least, the Blue Jays would need three Mike Trout’s in the lineup to make a comeback.

Tulowitzki isn’t Mike Trout, of course.

However, if someone were to hit at a .300 clip with 15 home runs in the final two months of the season, it wouldn’t be a combination of Refsnyder, Goins and Barney.

Sadly, that type of production would be exactly what they need just to have a chance at making a miraculous comeback and it would need to be from more than just Tulowitzki. Josh Donaldson, Kendrys Morales and Jose Bautista would all have to post similar production.

It’s no certainty. Tulowitzki is not Derek Jeter, and losing him as it is probably won’t change much.

In the end, it’s not a question of whether Tulowitzki would have contributed the spark Toronto needed. It’s the certainty that the current middle-infield combination of Refsndyer, Goins and Barney would not provide that spark.