PHOENIX — Throughout his three-month comeback from a right rib stress fracture, Aaron Judge was always firm that he would play again this season, usually answering with some version of, “I don’t know why I wouldn’t.”

Judge did, in fact, make it back, only to get hurt again with a right calf strain that officially landed him on the 10-day injured list Saturday.

When he was asked Saturday afternoon if he anticipated being back by the postseason — 10 days away from Game 1 of the American League wild-card series — Judge was hopeful, if less definitive.

“I’d like to be back by the postseason,” the three-time AL MVP said. “That’s definitely the plan.”

Whether that is actually going to happen, though, remains very much in question, threatening to derail the Yankees’ October dreams.

Assuming the Yankees are not able to chase down the Rays for the division, they would start the playoffs in the AL wild-card series in 10 days, with the ALDS starting two weeks from Saturday, the ALCS starting three weeks from Monday and the World Series starting five weeks from Friday.

Time is not on Judge’s side, as calf strains often take at least weeks to come back from, though he and the Yankees are refusing to share a grade of the strain, which would provide a better idea of how long he might need.

“It doesn’t matter what grade it is,” manager Aaron Boone said before the Yankees’ 5-3 loss to the Diamondbacks on Saturday night. “We’re nine games left. … We’re going to get him back or we’re not. That’s what we’re going to work to do and we’ll see.”

Judge did say that the strain is in the soleus muscle — lower in the calf — which he indicated was “more crucial” to running and hitting compared with the gastrocnemius muscle.

“Definitely frustrated,” he said. “I’ve 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. But definitely frustrated, because the ultimate goal when I was trying to come back [was] to get a couple games in before the postseason. So it changes it a little bit, but the focus is still the same: be ready to go for October.”

Aaron Judge watches the action from the dugout during the fifth inning of the Yankees’ blowout win over the Diamondbacks on Sept. 18, 2026 in Phoenix., Getty Images

In the meantime, Judge said he was going to keep throwing and working out as much as he was allowed to “so we can hop right back into this as soon as we’re ready.” His IL stint is retroactive to Thursday, meaning he can be activated in time for Game 162 at the earliest, though that seems doubtful.

Judge, who missed 84 games earlier this season with the rib injury and then came back without going on a rehab assignment, lasted just seven games before the calf injury popped up Wednesday against the Twins.

He did not second-guess skipping a rehab assignment or staying in Wednesday’s game through the fifth inning despite saying he first felt the calf in the bottom of the first.

Aaron Judge rounds the bases on his three-run home run during the eighth inning of the Yankees’ win over the Twins on Sept. 15, 2026. Charles Wenzelberg for New York Post

“You feel things every single year,” he said. “I usually deal with calf stuff all year long and usually it doesn’t get to you guys [reporters] and usually I don’t miss any games. So that was kind of the same thing I was feeling. I was feeling like I was working my way back and then something kind of grabs you at a strange time.”

“If this would have happened in a rehab game, I would have been probably a little bit more pissed than I was now. So it is what it is.”

Boone, who would prefer to discuss just about anything else in the world besides Judge’s physical status, remained noncommittal on whether he thought his captain could be back by the postseason.

“I’m hoping for the best, but it just depends how the healing goes and what he’s able to do as the week and weeks unfold, for that matter,” Boone said. “I’m not going to speculate on that, we’ll see. The reality is we got eight, nine days left in the regular season. So I have no idea.”