Michael Kay is growing a beard — and it’s distracting Aaron Boone

Yankees manager Aaron Boone seemed to be prepared for everything during spring training, except for the fact that YES broadcaster Michael Kay was growing a beard. 

The longtime Yankees play-by-play man caught the skipper off guard during the postgame news conference after their 9-2 Grapefruit League win over the Twins at Steinbrenner Field on Monday. 

“He can pitch up with his fastball, and I thought he threw some good cutters in there… and does Michael Kay have a beard?” Boone said with shock as he was speaking with reporters, according to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. 

Yankees manager Aaron Boone couldn’t believe Michael Kay’s beard at spring training. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

“The Michael Kay Show” account on X had some fun with the situation by quoting the post by the MLB.com reporter and responding with a waving emoji. 

“Yes he does,” the show also said, responding to the question about Kay’s beard. 

The Yankees came away with a win in a game that saw offseason acquisition Juan Soto double in the bottom of the third to tie the score before the Bombers added seven more unanswered runs. 

Jorbit Vivas hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to make it 9-2. 

Kay made headlines last week when he eviscerated the Mets for what he described as an offseason where management was “derelict in their duty.” 

Michael Kay’s newfound facial hair threw off Aaron Boone. YES Network

“This is a man [Steve Cohen] who bought the team and said he was going to win a championship within five years,” Kay said. “This is Year 4; they ain’t winning a championship this year, and everybody keeps [going], ‘Well, there’s a plan.’ Well, what’s the plan?”

The longtime Yankees broadcaster did acknowledge that he would likely be labeled as “Yankee Boy” before he went on his rant against the Mets. 

Kay and the team on his titular show had a laugh about the whiskers’ effect. YES Network

Kay has been part of the YES Network broadcast since 2002 and was part of the Yankees radio broadcast team from 1993-2001. 

He began hosting a drive-time radio show on ESPN New York in 2002.