Carson Kelly wears “Everything Hurts” because, as he puts it, catchers always have something going on—especially after the sport’s shift toward one-knee receiving stances that leave more room for hits to the inner thigh and groin.
When Carson Kelly pulls on his catcher’s gear. it’s not the uniform that seems to fit like a warning label—it’s the daily ache that comes with the job. He wears a black T-shirt that reads “Everything Hurts. ” a design gifted to him by Cubs broadcaster Boog Sciambi after a request for a custom look from a shop called Obvious Shirts.
Kelly says the message isn’t exaggeration. Sunday morning. he described the day-to-day reality of being a catcher: “There’s never a time I feel like. oh. everything is great. ” he said. “There’s a reason why I wear a shirt that says everything hurts. Usually, as a catcher there’s always something going on.”.
He didn’t need long to say when the hurting starts. “I think you come to camp hurt,” Kelly said. For catchers, he added, the work doesn’t pause just because the body feels it. “But I think what catchers need to do is post, no matter what is going on. When you’re a catcher, you gotta want to be back there and understand it’s part of the game.”.
For fans watching from the stands, the danger is easy to treat like background noise. Kelly makes it sound closer to daily attrition: “You don’t squat 150 or so times behind home plate. inches away from a man wielding a club. ” he said. “who at any moment may hit a ball that. if not struck squarely. will come back at you with frightening speed and inflict pain on some part of your anatomy.”.
What he says is changing isn’t the violence of the position. It’s where it lands.
There’s “considerable anecdotal evidence. ” Kelly said. that because catchers have adjusted their setup—often with one knee down—they may now be at greater risk of being hit in the one area that can fold even strong men: the groin. The Athletic. in a recent story on the topic. referred to it whimsically as “Groin. groin. gone…. ” a line Kelly didn’t repeat for laughs. suggesting the reaction among catchers was more clenched teeth than clever punchline.
No protective cup, Kelly said, has been invented that can fully absorb the shock waves of a direct groin hit. Some catchers, he added, are using more supportive cups favored by MMA fighters. Shots to the inner thigh aren’t much better.
Kelly described what that looks like in a body over time. “They seem to come in bunches, like home runs come in bunches,” he said. He pointed to a stretch “a couple of weeks ago” when he was hit in the leg four games in a row in the same spot—inner thigh. “It’s more of a sting the first time,” Kelly said. “If it happens multiple times in the same spot, then it really hurts.”.
He said swelling doesn’t disappear quickly when it keeps getting re-triggered. “It just takes a while for the swelling to go down,” he said. “And if you keep getting impact, then it continues to just stay swollen. I think you just hope for the next couple of days you don’t get one off the leg.”
For as long as baseball has had catchers. the basic teaching has been to crouch without either knee touching the ground. Catchers who dropped to one knee were told their mobility would suffer and they’d have a tougher time blocking pitches in the dirt. Kelly’s account then traces the shift in real time.
While catchers like Tony Pena and Benito Santiago stretched out one leg from a crouched position. Kelly pointed to a turning point: a White Sox catcher named Tyler Flowers. who was the first to adopt the one-knee stance on a regular basis in 2015. according to The Athletic. Flowers found that dropping one knee helped lower his center of gravity. making it easier for him to block pitches and help with receiving and framing.
Traditionalists weren’t convinced. In 2020, The Athletic reported that only 23 percent of pitches were caught with one knee down. Kelly said those same numbers, at least in part, show how fast things have changed. By 2026, he said, that percentage has climbed to 96 percent.
The story of how Kelly ended up here is its own kind of grind: his father pushed him early to play everything. “My dad wanted me to play every position,” Kelly said. “I would have every type of glove in my bag.” Drafted as a third baseman. he spent two years in the Cardinals’ system before the organization asked him to consider switching to catching. He went through instructional league in four straight autumns to learn the position.
Now, the learning has taken a new form—not just how to receive, frame, and block, but how to stay intact.
Kelly said he’s looking at ways to protect himself as he settles into catching. “There’s a company that offers sliding shorts with pads,” he said. “We’re looking a little into that. And there’s a lot of companies out there with good cups.”
But he doesn’t sound satisfied with gear alone. “Yeah, but maybe we need to change our positioning a little bit, too,” Kelly said.
Carson Kelly Chicago Cubs catcher pain spring training Obvious Shirts Boog Sciambi one-knee stance Tyler Flowers Tony Pena Benito Santiago groin injuries inner thigh hits The Athletic
I mean yeah being a catcher looks brutal. Why do they act surprised every spring?
Everything Hurts shirt is kinda funny but also… catchers always complain right? Like just catch the ball lol. Also I don’t know what one-knee thing is, but sounds like an excuse to me.
I stopped reading when I saw “Everything Hurts” and I’m like okay that’s dramatic. But if it’s true about the hits near the inner thigh/groin, that’s wild. My cousin played softball and he said the gear never protects enough either. Idk why the Cubs broadcaster is gifting shirts though.
So they’re saying the game is more dangerous now because of the stance? I always thought catchers just get hit because they’re in the way. But also he said you “come to camp hurt” like that’s normal?? That feels like injuries are just part of it, which… sure, sports. The “Obvious Shirts” name is funny too, like the pain was obvious anyway. Not sure how this changes anything for fans watching.