Troy Tulowitzki

Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki's 2016 season took another turn for the worse Sunday. Manager John Gibbons said he suffered a "small little chip fracture" in his thumb, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. 

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A red-hot Troy Tulowitzki fitting into a red-hot lineup is just what the Toronto Blue Jays had in mind when they traded for him last July.

Almost a year later, they're getting what they wished for.

Toronto Blue Jays star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki was placed on the disabled list due to a quadriceps strain on Saturday, as the team announced. It's unclear when he will return.

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Toronto Blue Jays All-Star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki exited the field during Wednesday's game against the New York Mets after getting hit by a Bartolo Colon pitch on the right hand.

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Without a doubt, Major League Baseball teams hand their players the most ridiculous contracts—in money and length—in all of North American professional sports. 

It is a reason to scoff at cynics who claim baseball is a dying sport, but it is also ammunition for heated debates about just how bad some deals might be, in terms of dollars, duration or both. There are plenty to choose from thanks to owners and front offices willing to pay players greatly for past production while crossing their fingers for some of that production to happen in the future.

A former general manager in Philadelphia has become the first base coach in Boston (Ruben Amaro), a former GM who became an interim manager in Miami was fired and told he couldn't return to his old GM job that had been promised (Dan Jennings), and the GM who pulled off a second-half miracle in Toronto (Alex Anthopoulos) walked away from a five-year extension offer because he couldn't stomach work

The high-powered Toronto Blue Jays lineup often looked less than high-powered through the club's first seven postseason games, and it was basically all Troy Tulowitzki's fault.

OK, fine. That statement is two things: a slight exaggeration and, thanks to more recent events, water under the bridge anyway.

In a literal sense, the Toronto Blue Jays didn't need Troy Tulowitzki's three-run homer on Sunday.

The blast came in the sixth inning of Toronto's pivotal Game 3 win over the Texas Rangers. The Jays were already leading 2-0 and went on to win 5-1 to stay alive in the best-of-five division series, which the Rangers now lead 2-1.

FINAL SCORE: Blue Jays 5 - 1 Rangers

Troy Tulowitzki belted a three-run homer in the top of the sixth to help lead the Toronto Blue Jays to a 5-1 win over the Texas Rangers in Game 3 of the American League Division Series on Sunday night.

With the win, the Blue Jays forced a Game 4 on Monday and put the pressure on the Rangers to try and end the series before having to go back to Toronto.

The injury bug often rears its mighty head at the most inopportune times in Major League Baseball. The optimism of a team can quickly disappear when a key player goes down. And when the injury warrants a lengthy recovering time—sometimes—that optimism is crushed completely.

With the 2015 MLB playoffs right around the corner, postseason contenders will have their fingers crossed that injuries will be avoided from here on out.