How Chicken Parm Led to Anthony Volpe’s Hot Streak

Ever since Aaron Judge suffered a toe injury earlier this month, the New York Yankees have been struggling to find their rhythm. However, there is one player who is preventing the team from completely falling apart, and that is rookie shortstop Anthony Volpe. 

Volpe is currently experiencing the most successful period of his career, and he may owe some credit to a chicken parm dinner and a lifelong friend.

On June 14th, it was reported that Volpe had identified an adjustment he wanted to make in his batting stance while enjoying a chicken parmesan meal with his former minor league teammate, Austin Wells.

Prior to that moment, Volpe had struggled during his first season in the major leagues, with a batting average of just .186, an on-base percentage of .260, and a slugging percentage of .345. 

The Yankees remained dedicated to Volpe as their starting shortstop. This position carries significant expectations due to the remarkable tenure of Derek Jeter in that role. 

Luckily, all it took was one night of discussion over chicken parm to help turn things around. Here are the before and after stats, provided by Fansided.com, below: 

Anthony Volpe stats before the chicken parm incident (67 games):

• Slash line: .186/.260/.345
• OPS: .605
• BABIP: .234
• Doubles: 5 (.07 per game)
• Triples: 2 (.03 per game)
• Home runs: 9 (.13 per game)
• Walks: 22 (.33 per game)
• Stolen bases: 14 (.21 per game)

Anthony Volpe stats after the chicken parm incident (16 games):

• Slash line: .373/.448/.569
• OPS: 1.017
• BABIP: .500
• Doubles: 5 (.31 per game)
• Triples: 1 (.06 per game)
• Home runs: 1 (.06 per game)
• Walks: 7 (.44 per game)
• Stolen bases: 2 (.125 per game)

After looking at the stats, you can see that there wasn’t just a slight improvement, there was a major improvement in his offensive play in pretty much all areas. The only two that have not improved are his Home runs and stolen bases. 

Maybe more players in the MLB should discuss adjustments in their hitting over some nice chicken parm. Seems to work nicely!