Harrison Bader is back in Recent York this weekend for the primary time since he was waived by the Yankees.
And regardless of the outfielder and Bronxville native felt after he was solid off by his hometown team, he’s replacing it with the joy of going from meaningless September baseball to the center of a wild-card chase.
“No, you simply reserve the emotions as best you possibly can in a given situation and give attention to 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 unique organization, but so long as you simply give attention to the ball, which is my essential focus, all of the emotion goes out the window. So I’ll give it some thought within the offseason and reassess and go from there. But for without delay, just there’s an excessive amount of happening to give attention to anything besides playing quality baseball to assist this team win.”
It’s rare that a player picks up spots within the standings by going from The Bronx to Cincinnati, but that’s the way in which the season has gone for the Yankees.
Bader, who went to highschool at Horace Mann in Riverdale, just 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 12 months 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 long run, he had a slash line of just .237/.274/.353 in 98 games for the Yankees before he was waived on Aug. 29.
Sitting within the visiting lunch room that day before the Yankees played at Detroit, he saw his name on the crawl at the underside of the TV screen.
“I had no idea in anyway,” Bader told The Post. “No, none in any respect.”
The Yankees cleared the remaining of Bader’s $5.2 million contract and in addition 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 ultimate NL berth.
Bader got here on to pinch-run for Joey Votto with two out in the highest 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 within the ninth to assist close out the win.
“Yeah, it’s great,” Bader told The Post. “This league is funky. Every little thing is relative to your surroundings and surrounding teams. So to be plunged right into a situation where there’s meaningful baseball down the stretch in September, it’s good. It means rather a lot. It keeps you focused, it keeps you driven and hungry.
“And when you consider what can possibly occur when you get into October, if we make it there, some special things can really occur. So I’m just really excited to be here and proceed down this path with these guys.”
