Most early afternoons last October, Giancarlo Stanton would be out on the field for early batting practice. Later that night, he would put on his cape. 

All the while, unknowingly to all those outside the Yankees clubhouse, he was dealing with a high level of pain with tendinitis in both elbows.

And yet, he was still able to put the Yankees on his back to help carry them to the World Series. 

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The steeled veteran’s time to shine has arrived again — lingering elbow issues and all — beginning Tuesday night against the Red Sox in the AL wild-card series at Yankee Stadium. 

“I think what makes him so great and one of our leaders is that everyone knew what he was going through and grinding through [last October], but you never hear it from him,” Anthony Volpe said. “I think a lot of guys learned a lot from that. There’s no excuses. 

“He’s supremely focused and I think that rubs off on everyone.” 

In 14 playoff games last fall, Stanton homered in half of them while batting .273 with a 1.048 OPS and 16 RBIs and earning the ALCS MVP. Without him, the Yankees may not have reached the World Series. 

“It’s just impressive,” Aaron Judge said. “It speaks volumes to the type of character he has, pain tolerance, how bad he wants to win. He’s going to put his body to test the limits of it and see what happens. He really gave his whole body last year in October and I think he’ll probably do the same this year, too.” 

The Yankees will need that, and more — particularly Judge being the best hitter in the game that he has been during the regular season — as they begin their quest to write a better ending to last year’s playoff run.

In order to do that, though, they will have to get past a Red Sox team that has given them plenty of problems, including taking the season series 9-4, and is sending two tough starters to the mound in Garrett Crochet and Brayan Bello to start the series. 

The historic rivalry is not what it once was in the early 2000s, but there will still be plenty of noise around it.

That is where Stanton’s focused, no-nonsense approach comes into play, with his ability to cut through all of the potential distractions and zero in on what truly matters, as in wins or losses, producing or not. 

“I think he’s learned that so well playing in New York,” manager Aaron Boone said. “To see him evolve, he’s so good at the mental game. He’s mentally very tough. He’s unaffected by outside praise, criticism, success, failure in a game. He’s just very, very disciplined. I think it’s something he’s learned and evolved into over the course of his career, but especially in New York.” 

The same elbow issues that Stanton was grinding through late last year forced him to miss the first two and a half months of this season before returning to hit .273 with 24 home runs and a .944 OPS in 77 games.

He put together a downright dominant stretch in August, even while risking injury by returning to the outfield on an occasional basis so that Judge could DH upon returning from his right elbow flexor strain. 

Stanton cooled off some in September, though he came back alive late — in games the Yankees needed to win to keep their division hopes alive — almost as if his body knew the calendar was about to flip to October and just naturally clicked into another gear. 

That coincided with a flourishing Judge as he put the finishing touches on what could be a third MVP season, offering another tease of what an October could look like if the two of them were clicking at the same time. 

“Those guys, they’re the heartbeat of this team,” Ryan McMahon said. “They’re the big sluggers, they get it done. Coming through when the team needs them the most, you kind of expect it because that’s just who they are to their core. They’re big team guys.” 

They also command the clubhouse. Judge’s part in that is more clear in his role as captain, but as Boone has often said, when Stanton speaks, “people listen.” 

“He just has the perfect pulse of the team, and what we need to hear, whether it’s good or bad,” Volpe said. “He says what needs to be said.” 

“Anything’s going on or anything’s happening, he’s been through a lot, so just [knows] how to navigate everything.”