MLB · Tampa Bay Rays · 18:41 ET · via @JeffPassan

Aaron Judge Intends to Play in Wild Card Series, Saving Yankees Fans from Total Meltdown

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Yankees star Aaron Judge told @jorgecastillo today that he intends to play in the wild card series next week.

The collective blood pressure of the Bronx just dropped from boiling to mildly panicked. is officially planning to be in the lineup when the postseason begins.

ESPN’s Jorge Castillo got the word directly from the captain himself, with Jeff Passan amplifying the news Wednesday night. Judge intends to play in next week’s Wild Card series, ending whatever doomsday scenarios fans were cooking up in their group chats.

If you are holding a futures ticket, you can finally put the paper bag away. A playoff roster without number 99 is just a very expensive collection of guys waiting for someone else to hit a home run.

New York has not exactly been cruising into October. They just dropped two of three games to the out west and split a Tuesday doubleheader against the , managing just three total runs across those two games.

They finish out the regular season with two more against before a final weekend tune-up against the . The only thing that actually matters in those games is making sure Judge gets to next Tuesday in one piece.

Yahoo Sports recently pegged the as one of the most dangerous Wild Card teams in the field, but that label is entirely dependent on the big man swinging a bat. He is the entire engine of this operation.

The Wild Card round kicks off next week. Whether Judge is fully healthy or just taping himself together for a ring chase, his presence alone completely changes the math for whoever has the misfortune of drawing in a short series.