If Judge isn’t ready to play, don’t force it.

The Yankees need their captain healthy, not trying to gut through an injury and potentially making things worse. Judge has already dealt with significant time away this season, and now the calf injury has put his postseason availability in serious doubt.

But let’s be honest — this is Aaron Judge we’re talking about.

The Yankees need their captain when October arrives.

Judge has had his share of postseason struggles throughout his career, and that will naturally be part of the conversation whenever he isn’t on the field. But I don’t want to sit here and claim Judge is afraid to play. We don’t know that, and there’s no reason to make that accusation without evidence.

The Yankees have enough problems heading into October. They don’t need their captain making an injury worse just to try to save a Wild Card Series.

If Judge is truly done for the year, then the Yankees have to move forward without him.

And that’s a massive hole to fill.

The captain needs to be healthy — and if he can’t be, the Yankees better find a way to survive without him.