Aaron Judge hopes to make playoff return in possible Yankees positive: Definitely the plan

PHOENIX — Without any guarantees of it happening, Aaron Judge is holding out hope of returning from a calf strain in time for the playoffs. “I’d like to be back by the postseason; that’s definitely the plan,” Judge said Saturday afternoon.“We’re going to do everything we can to get back as soon as we can.”  Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.

That was a slightly less definitive statement than what Judge consistently said during the summer when he was trying to come back from a right rib stress fracture, which he did after three-plus months on Sept.8. But now the clock is ticking even louder, with Saturday marking 10 days away from Game 1 of the American League wild card series. “Definitely frustrated,” said Judge, who played seven games after missing 84 on the IL with the rib injury.

“Dealt with strains before and kind of played through them, but this was in a different spot where it made it a little bit more difficult.” Judge did not reveal what grade the strain was, but said it involved his Soleus muscle, which he indicated was more important to running and hitting compared to the gastrocnemius muscle. “The focus is still the same, to be ready to go for October,” Judge said. In the meantime, the Yankees are banking on their summer without Judge paying off now that he is back on the IL. “Lean on each other,” Cody Bellinger said.“The game itself is hard; if you add too much pressure on yourself, the game becomes even harder.

So we really just have to play for each other, lean on each other, pass the baton, do your job and control what you can control.” The Yankees did that on Friday night, racing out of the gates to score five runs in the first inning of a 9-2 win against the Diamondbacks, just hours after the team announced Judge was going on the 10-day injured list with a right calf strain. But they also got off...