Aaron Hicks sent word that he couldn’t do a postgame interview Sunday because he was busy doing the “hot and cold” whirlpool, an exercise that’s differentiated from Hicks himself — at least the current version of Hicks — because it’s sometimes hot.

If the 2022 baseball season seemed like a nightmare for the talented Hicks, 2023 looks far worse so far. Overlooked amid all the bouquets thrown ace pitcher Gerrit Cole’s way after the Yankees’ 2-0 victory Sunday was an offensive performance by Hicks that qualifies as memorably bad — three at-bats and three strikeouts out of the No. 9 hole against his original Minnesota Twins team.

Predictably, Yankees fans showered Hicks with boos after each strikeout, and that may not be helping, either, especially since the Yankees are promising more chances for Hicks (more on that later). Some players like Aaron Judge can accept boos from the home crowd as part of the deal of being a Yankees.

Obviously, many tough visitors don’t mind either. Jose Altuve seems to thrive on the negativity, and Carlos Correa recently said the boos are like “gas in a Ferrari” to him, which is certainly relatable to other star players. Over the weekend, Correa heard it even worse than Hicks, but Correa is an extremely battle-tested player (18 postseason home runs!) and he got to leave town. Hicks is here to stay, and it may be for a while yet.

While it’s understandable Yankees fans ride Correa, it’s ridiculous to boo home players. Some at The Stadium booed Judge during a baseball year he owned when he went cold in October, but that’s just a waste of breath since Judge is New York tough. As for Hicks, he may be taking it to heart (though Boone suggested he’s past that).

Hicks is looking lately one among the long list of talented players who doesn’t get New York or the whole Yankee vibe. There were Joey Gallo, of course, and Sonny Gray, and Javier Vazquez (twice), all fine players when they weren’t wearing pinstripes. All the evidence isn’t in yet, but Hicks is quickly trending toward that category.

The hitch with Hicks, of course, is that he logged two very productive seasons in The Bronx before he disintegrated, long enough for the Yankees and him to get together on a $70 million, seven-year deal. Congrats to CAA, but this was a very bad idea for the Yankees.

General manager Brian Cashman, who didn’t return a message regarding this subject, is unnecessarily castigated on social media, as he’s obviously made more good calls than bad; check the record. But this contract never made sense. Hicks is beloved by the analytics folks. But as a rule, seven-year deals for solid players rarely work.

The Yankees do not like to admit their mistakes, and no one relishes eating $30 million, which is no crime. But while Hicks’ seven-month slump appears to have no ending in sight — he had an 86 OPS+ last year, and it’s -12 now (though that’s only through 22 at-bats) — there isn’t any suggestion his Yankees tenure is anywhere near its close.

In fact, they imply they most need him now, which may be true. Whether it’s blessing or curse, Hicks would appear in line for greater opportunity in the near future, now that Giancarlo Stanton with his Grade 2 hamstring strain has joined Harrison Bader on the sidelines.

“We’re going to mix and match,” manager Aaron Boone said when asked about Hicks. “Obviously, it’s a blow when Giancarlo is not in the lineup. But that being said, Hicksy is a switch hitter. I do feel we can mix and match and get it done. And we’ll have to. It will require some more guys to step up and play some different roles.”

Boone mentioned the hot Franchy Cordero and Willie Calhoun playing more. But Boone also made clear Hicks isn’t about to be benched. “Hicksy’s going to play a role.”

Boone also suggested he thinks Hicks can deal with the booing now.

“I think, from Aaron’s standpoint, he’s past that point where it’s a shock to the system and not fun,” Boone said. “I don’t think it’s anything that’s creeping into him right now.”

Boone didn’t in any way suggest this is Hicks’ last chance, either. And with 30 large to go, I get it. This isn’t the big-spending Mets, the one team that’s shown a willingness to eat millions and can afford to do that.

The Yankees did make an effort to find a trade for Hicks in the winter, but those kind of deals aren’t easy. They need to find a player who’s been similarly unproductive and makes tens of millions to make it work. While there are players who are overpaid, there aren’t a ton who have been quite this unproductive.

Ultimately, it says here it would be better — for their sake and for his — if they found a nice softer landing spot for Hicks.

But in the meantime, it wouldn’t hurt if the fans could keep the booing to a low roar.