The Kelce brothers are two of the most well-known figures in the sports community. But their recent take on baseball hasn’t been well-received. While everyone is entitled to their own opinions, Jason and Travis’ dismissive take on baseball saw a seasoned MLB voice call the brothers out.

“You guys play once a week, we play ‘almost’ everyday,” said 2x All-Star Jonathan Lucroy.

Jason Kelce and Travis Kelce were having a casual chat on their ‘New Heights’ podcast, where they discussed why Travis hated baseball. A small clip covering their conversation on the specific sport went viral.

“The reason why I didn’t play baseball in my sophomore and junior year was conditioning in baseball… get me the f*** out of here,” said Kelce. “Why am I running foul pole to foul pole?”

The Kelce brothers questioned the training methods used in baseball as they believed it had no real connection to the game.

In his tweet, Lucroy highlighted the daily workload involved in baseball and how running between the foul poles helps build aerobic endurance to help recover between games. 

“We play 162 games. Plus Spring training, and then the playoffs if we get there. If you make the WS, you are talking 190+ games. NFL games are brutally violent, and I’m not understating that, but our game is more about endurance and longevity over a 7-month season of daily attrition,” Lucroy explained in his tweet.

The 2-time All-Star catcher himself is aware of how physically demanding the game is and explained how it takes a lot to play his position.

“Just for myself, I caught 200+ pitches every time I caught. That means I did at least 200 squats every game. (not counting warm-ups before the game and at the start of an inning.) If I caught 120 games in a season, that’s 24,000 squats I did over the course of the regular season. Plus all of ST, and then the warmups before and during the game,” Lucroy tweeted.

While Lucroy took a strong stand for MLB, he gave the NFL its respect by mentioning how physical the sport was. But it’s not just Kelce or Lucroy, MLB or NFL, every single sport has its own definition for fitness and practice. 

NFL and MLB have their own difficulties

Football involves way more activity from all the players during the entire game. But it’s only 60 minutes. Whereas a standard 9 innings lasts around 2 to 2.5 hrs. If it goes to extra innings, that’s a different and more difficult story.

Sprinting is necessary in football, but baseball needs endurance. True, you don’t run around the field all the time, but even standing on your feet, being ready to move within a nanosecond requires fitness too. And doing that almost 6 days a week doesn’t make it any easier. 

 Lucroy also highlighted the amount of squats he had to do as a catcher.

It isn’t any less challenging for the hitters or pitchers, and all of them have their own set of warmups as well.

In the end, it’s not about which is more difficult. It’s just perspective. While the NFL grabs a lot of headlines, the technical nuance required to play baseball is unique and offers a brilliant viewing experience.