New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe has newfound success due to a chicken parm dinner. The Atlanta Braves are experiencing even better success thanks in part to meals.
With the MLB All-Star break a matter of days away, teams will evaluate their approach for the second half of the season. For the Atlanta Braves, they don't have much to worry about. On the morning of July 4, they have a 57-27 record, the best in the entire National League, and have a hefty lead over their rivals in the NL East. Not to mention that they have eight players heading to the All-Star Game.
What can be attributed to their success this season? Much like how Anthony Volpe found a new, successful approach in the batter's box, dinner has been pivotal to the Braves. Specifically, team meals on road trips, as members of the Braves told Forbes' Terence Moore.
"It's the whole team. It's always the whole team that eats together," said Braves slugger Marcell Ozuna, h/t Forbes. "For the Braves, by the time we land in a city, the dinner is set up for us. When you spend as much time together as we do, you learn each other's habits. You can help each other.
"That's why we don't have an ego. We pull for each other, and we're not selfish on the field. Everybody's accountable to each other, and we can do damage."
Braves' first-half success attributed to team meals
As Moore mentions in the article linked above, the players and coaches all rent a team bus to go for meals on the road and then head back to the hotel. Not to mention, the players don't even pick up the tab at meals, team officials do.
It appears that these team meals are paying off for the Braves. Even with the number of injuries they have dealt with this season, they were able to overcome them. In their last 10 games entering July 4, they are 9-1. The second-place team in the NL East, Miami Marlins, is nine games back. If the season were to end today, the Braves would secure the No. 1 seed in the NL, and by a sizable margin.
Sure, the roster construction and locking in all pivotal players to long-term contracts has paid huge dividends to make them a contender for the foreseeable future. But so far this year, the team believes their bonding over dinner has helped them win 57 games through their first 84 games this season.