Yankees manager Aaron Boone recently countered the viral chicken parm story going around, adding his own cranky flair to the narrative.
The New York Yankees thought they solved a complex problem with a simple, often microwaveable TV dinner: chicken parm.
A week ago, Yankees rookie shortstop Anthony Volpe enjoyed the Italian-American meal with former minor league teammate Austin Wells while watching film, and during the dinner, Volpe suddenly caught a mistake he was making in the batter's box.
Volpe may have that shared dinner to thank for his recently improved numbers, but Boone is refusing to label it as anything more than a meaty coincidence. Boone called out the media for "oversimplifying" the narrative and instead described the encounter as two former teammates on an off day talking and "influencing" each other.
Boone claimed his players do a deep dive into film all the time, and that it wasn't "fair" to place blame on hitting coaches or other members of the Yankees for not noticing certain flaws earlier.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone discredits chicken parm narrative
Order up: here's a healthy helping of Aaron Boone being incredibly defensive and hating anything that could be fun.
More doubts than certainties cloud this Yankees squad in 2023, and every little thing that could help the team even just a little bit should be considered. If that means more chicken parm dinners, so be it. Don't be a cranky vegetarian; be adaptable. Why discredit that narrative when whatever New York is doing right now clearly isn't working?
The Yankees just hired a new hitting coach, Sean Casey, who won't be able to fix the team's Judge-less production issues himself. Halfway through the 2023 season, the Yankees offense ranks 28th in batting average (.231), 29th in total hits (690), and 26th in on-base percentage (.300).
Volpe is slashing just .216/.287/.395 with an OPS of .682 with many critics wondering if the Yankees thrust him into the spotlight too early.
Even if Boone refuses to change his stubborn ways, he has to see that this Yankees team is not going to climb back into playoff contention without a little luck, superstition, and open-mindedness. And besides, come on, who doesn't like chicken parm?