Jonathan Lucroy calls out Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce after bold baseball workout comments, highlights true MLB endurance struggle

Jonathan Lucroy did not stay quiet after hearing what Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce said about baseball players. The former MLB catcher quickly responded on April 1 through X, calling out the brothers for how they described baseball training.

His main point was just that baseball is not easy, and it demands something very different from football.

While the Kelce brothers spoke about cardio and practice routines on their “New Heights” podcast, Lucroy explained that the daily grind of baseball tells a very different story. He reminded them that NFL players suit up once a week, but MLB players step on the field almost every day for months. That difference, he said, changes everything about how players train, recover, and perform over a long season.

Jonathan Lucroy responds to Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce comments on baseball workouts and cardio

Jonathan Lucroy reacted directly to what Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce said during their podcast. Jason Kelce questioned why baseball players would spend time doing cardio that, in his view, does not match the game. He said, “There’s zero cardio necessary to be a good baseball player.” Travis Kelce backed that idea by sharing his own high school memory, saying he only ran from foul pole to foul pole.Lucroy pushed back with clear examples. He explained, “The pitchers run poles to endure longer outings.

Nolan Ryan did them everyday.” He pointed to Nolan Ryan’s long career and how he was still throwing fast pitches even at 40 years old.Lucroy also broke down how position players train. He said, “Position players run bases for conditioning in Spring Training. During the season, we don’t do much conditioning as an everyday player. Why? Because we play almost EVERYDAY.” His message was that the game itself becomes the workout because of how often players compete.

Jonathan Lucroy explains MLB season grind and compares it with NFL schedule and physical demands

Jonathan Lucroy then explained what life is really like during a baseball season. MLB teams play 162 games, while the NFL schedule has only 17 games. That gap, he said, shows why baseball is about lasting through months of constant play.He shared his own numbers from his career. “That means I did at least 200 squats every game,” Lucroy said, talking about his role as a catcher. Over 120 games, he estimated doing around 24,000 squats in a season, not even counting warmups.Lucroy also made sure to respect football. He said, “NFL games are brutally violent, and I’m not understating that.” But he added that baseball tests players in a different way. “Our game is more about endurance and longevity over a 7 month season of daily attrition,” he wrote. He ended his message with a simple line: “It is a marathon, not a sprint.”