Interview by Tzvi Twersky
Very few baseball players ever get to grace a Major League Baseball diamond. Even fewer can say that they got to do so for 10-plus years. Outfielder Jon Jay has done just that, though, despite the odds and a legion of doubters.
“Hard work and good habits,” says the native of Miami, FL, “are what have kept me here for so long.”
Jay, who won a World Series ring in 2011 with the St. Louis Cardinals, is currently in the Los Angeles Angeles system. In the ten years between STL and LA, Jay was a regular for the San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Chicago White Sox.
The one constant in all those stops: a disciplined diet, a good workout regimen, and an old-school mentality that made him both a clubhouse and fan favorite.
In an exclusive interview, the member of the University of Miami Hall of Fame sat down with Chomps to talk about his love for the product, time in baseball, and more.
Q: The Pandemic led to a lot of restrictions in baseball. How did that impact your self-care on the road?
A: That’s a good question. One of the biggest adjustments was the need to stay in our rooms, from a food and workout perspective. Normally, you could go out to different restaurants, meal plan, all of that—instead you had to rely on room service and whatever the hotel had available. I ended up supplementing, and sometimes replacing, meals with Chomps.
Q: How does Chomps fit in to that equation?
A: Chomps is a great way to consume protein, to consume grass-fed beef, and to do it in a convenient way. I snack on it after workouts, after games, and whenever I need a quick hit on the road.
Q: What are your nutrition goals?
A: Everything I do I do to be the best athlete and player—and family man—that I can be. Part of that is how I work out and recover, and part of that process is being mindful of what I put in my body. I don’t ever step on a scale, but I do listen to my body as it tells me what it needs more of. That might not work for everyone, but it’s worked pretty well for me.
Q: What about your workout regimen—what does that look like?
A: Well, it’s very different in the off-season and in the season. I always wake up early, like 4:30 or 5. In the off-season, I wake up then and work pretty much straight through until lunch with a steady mix of performance training, yoga, field work and cage work. The goal then is to get in peak condition for the season. During the season itself, the goal is to stay sharp and stay ready for when my number is called. Whether that means showing up to the field early or staying late after games, I do whatever I need to do to field prepared to do my job.
Q: Do you feel like people ever overlook you, overlook that work because you’re only 5-10 and not, say, 6-4?
A: It’s hard to overlook 10 years in the majors, haha. But in all seriousness, yeah, I’ve had to work for everything I’ve accomplished. I’ve sacrificed. My wife, my kids—we’ve sacrificed a lot so that I could always focus on being the best baseball player that I could be. Sacrificed so that I could always perform at the highest level. I look forward, when it’s time to hang my spikes up, to be able to pay them back for everything they’ve done for me.
Q: You’re not only a long-time pro, but you’re also in the Hall of Fame at The U. What does that mean to you?
A: That’s one of the greatest honors of my life. When you think of The U, think of all the great athletes who’ve gone through there—from Ed Reed to Frank Gore to Sean Taylor, RIP, to all of the baseball and basketball greats—it’s a privilege to be listed among them and a testament to what hard work, training, and a good diet can earn you.
