How to Cheer for the Blue Jays When They Aren’t in the World Series
A Guide to Watching Baseball for New Fans (and Recovering October Casuals)
So the Blue Jays aren’t in the World Series right now, just like they haven’t been for about 99.76% of their existence (based on 19 world series games out of ~8000 games in their history).
If you’re fairly new to Toronto baseball, you’re now sitting there wondering: “What exactly am I supposed to do with 162 games of baseball that don’t involve a big part?”
Good news: you’re about to discover what real baseball fans already know.
That the World Series is the final exam and the season is the actual education.
And if you learn how to watch it properly, it becomes way more interesting than just checking the score in October and pretending you were there all along.
Let’s walk through how to actually follow the Blue Jays like a human who understands baseball, and not like someone who only shows up when there’s confetti.
Step 1: Accept That Baseball Is Not Built for Instant Gratification
Baseball is not:
The NFL (one game = everything)
The NBA playoffs (drama every possession)
A TikTok highlight reel
Baseball is slow, repetitive, and incredibly revealing, which is exactly the point.
You don’t watch baseball for one moment, but rather you watch for patterns over time.
If you try to treat every game like it matters equally you’ll burn out by May, but if you treat the season like a story that unfolds… you’ll be hooked by June.
April: Overreaction Season (Try Not to Be That Person)
April baseball is chaos disguised as data.
A guy hits .400 is not Ted Williams and a pitcher with a 7.00 ERA is not broken and discardable forever (looking at you Brendon Little haters).
What you should watch:
Velocity trends (is a pitcher throwing harder or softer?)
Lineup construction (who’s hitting where and why?)
Defensive alignment changes
New players adjusting to the team
What you should not do:
Declare the season over after 12 games
Suggest trading half the roster on April 18th
Tweet “this team has no identity” before taxes are due
April is about signals, not the overblown conclusions we draw from games when there’s still snow in Toronto.
May: Roles Start to Reveal Themselves
This is when things start getting real.
You’ll begin to see who the manager actually trusts, which bullpen arms are used in big moments, and who’s quietly playing every day
This is where smart fans start asking better questions like:
Who’s getting high-leverage innings?
Who’s being platooned?
Who’s disappearing from the lineup?
Also, this is when you realize baseball is played almost every day.
June: The “Oh… This Team Might Be Something” Phase
June is where good teams start separating from average ones.
This is when you should pay attention to:
1. Run Differential
By the time we hit June, this is no longer vibes, or gut feel but instead tells you if they are actually good, or just getting lucky.
2. Starting Pitching Consistency
Are starters going 6+ innings regularly or are they handing leads to the bullpen?
3. Injuries and Depth
This is when teams start to get tested, not in April when we are still fresh and haven’t hit the dog days yet. The team is definitely banged up right now, but if the Blue Jays lose a key player in June, watch how they respond:
Do they have internal options?
Do they collapse?
That tells you everything about roster construction.
July: Trade Deadline Season (AKA “Everyone Becomes a GM”)
This is when things get fun…and by fun I mean completely unhinged.
You will see:
Trade proposals that would get someone fired in real life
Fans demanding superstar acquisitions with no regard for payroll or logic
Everyone suddenly becoming an expert in prospects they’ve never watched
What you should actually focus on:
What does the team need, not what looks cool?
Are they buying, selling, or quietly holding?
What kind of players fit their identity?
All the while your Blue Jays have built a reputation of generally being a smart team and smart teams don’t chase headlines, they solve problems.
August: The Grind
This is the least glamorous, but most important, month in baseball. This is when everyone is tired, pitchers are losing velocity, hitters are battling nagging injuries, and bullpens are stretched thin.
This is where you watch for:
Mental toughness
Consistency
Bullpen reliability
Good teams don’t need to be spectacular in August, they need to not completely fall apart and plummet down the standings. If the Steinbrenners want to reread this part, I would encourage it.
You’d be surprised how many teams fail this test.
September: Now You Can Care About Every Game
Congratulations. You made it. This might be around when you started watching in 2025 because now the games actually feel like they matter every night.
This is when matchups become critical, bullpen decisions get aggressive, and lineups tighten.
…and this is where casual fans suddenly show up again and say, “I’ve been watching all year.”
You haven’t. It’s okay. We know.
What You Should Actually Watch During Games
Let’s simplify this.
If you want to understand baseball beyond the surface, watch these five things:
1. Pitch Sequencing
What is the pitcher trying to do? Are they attacking early? Are they avoiding certain zones?
2. Defensive Positioning
Where are fielders standing?
This tells you what the team expects from the hitter and how advanced/effective their scouting is.
3. Baserunning Decisions
Who is taking extra bases SMART, and who is aggressive/completely guessing? (Mr.Heineman, I hope this isn’t still you come September).
4. Bullpen Usage
This is huge because we spend months trying to build confidence in who comes in with runners on, who gets clean innings, and who gets the “oh no, this guy again” moments?
5. At-Bat Quality
This actually does matter all year long. Don’t just look for the hits, but watch pitch counts, foul balls, walks, etc.
Good hitters don’t just hit, they wear pitchers down all year long.
How to Actually Enjoy It
The secret is that you don’t need to watch all 162 games.
But you do need to follow the storylines, understand the trends, and care about the process
My advice for the non-Blue Jay-nerds like myself is to do the following three things:
Watch2–3 games a week
Review highlights in between
Read box scores with the intent of learning
And suddenly you’re not just watching baseball, you’re understanding it.
This Is the Fun Part
The World Series is great but it’s also the easiest part to watch because veryone’s watching with you. They all care. Wins/Losses are big and obvious.
The real joy of baseball is in a random Tuesday night in June.
It’s in a bullpen decision that quietly wins a game in early August.
It’s in noticing something before everyone else does in May.
Cheering for the Blue Jays when they’re not in the World Series doesn’t make you a worse fan, it makes you a real one.
And honestly, my way more is way more fun than pretending you knew what was going on once October rolls around.
