Harrison Bader is back in New York this weekend for the first time since he was waived by the Yankees.
And whatever the outfielder and Bronxville native felt after he was cast off by his hometown team, he’s replacing it with the excitement of going from meaningless September baseball to the heart of a wild-card chase.
“No, you just reserve the emotions as best you can in a given situation and focus on what’s in front of you, which was playing meaningful baseball down the stretch in September,” Bader told The Post before his Reds beat the Mets 3-2 in front of 32,633 at Citi Field.
“Obviously for a different organization, but as long as you just focus on the ball, which is my main focus, all the emotion goes out the window. So I’ll think about it in the offseason and reassess and go from there. But for right now, just there’s too much going on to focus on anything besides playing quality baseball to help this team win.”
It’s rare that a player picks up spots in the standings by going from The Bronx to Cincinnati, but that’s the way the season has gone for the Yankees.
Bader, who went to high school at Horace Mann in Riverdale, just a few miles from the Stadium, was acquired by the Yankees in a 2022 deadline day deal that sent Jordan Montgomery to St. Louis. Bader had won a 2021 NL Gold Glove and was lauded for his defense in center field.
His five homers in nine postseason games for the Yankees last year were icing on the cake.
But a litany of injuries conspired to undo his tenure in pinstripes, from plantar fasciitis to a left oblique strain to a right hamstring strain. In the end, he had a slash line of just .237/.274/.353 in 98 games for the Yankees before he was waived on Aug. 29.
Sitting in the visiting lunch room that day before the Yankees played at Detroit, he saw his name on the crawl at the bottom of the TV screen.
“I had no idea whatsoever,” Bader told The Post. “No, none at all.”
The Yankees cleared the rest of Bader’s $5.2 million contract and also opened up room for Jasson Dominguez. The highly touted prospect was called up on Sept. 1, but two days later he felt discomfort in his right elbow and was diagnosed with a torn UCL on Sept. 10.
Meanwhile, Bader was claimed off waivers by the Reds. Though the Yankees are six games out of a wild-card spot, Cincinnati is in a dead heat with Arizona for the final NL berth.
Bader came on to pinch-run for Joey Votto with two out in the top of the eighth inning Saturday. He stole second and took third on an error by second baseman Jeff McNeil, but got stranded there.
He stayed on in center field, making a put-out in the ninth to help close out the win.
“Yeah, it’s great,” Bader told The Post. “This league is funky. Everything is relative to your surroundings and surrounding teams. So to be plunged into a situation where there’s meaningful baseball down the stretch in September, it’s good. It means a lot. It keeps you focused, it keeps you driven and hungry.
“And when you think about what can possibly happen once you get into October, if we make it there, some special things can really happen. So I’m just really excited to be here and continue down this path with these guys.”