Harrison Bader finally gets to contribute to a Yankees playoff victory

There was a point before the Yankees workout Monday when Harrison Bader was asked what he thought it would be like to experience the fanbase at its most frenzied — after all, a crowd that’s merely raucous during a midweek game in August can turn downright feral the minute October hits.

But Bader, acquired from the Cardinals at the Aug. 2 trade deadline, didn’t need to imagine it at all. He knew exactly what he was getting into. Tuesday’s ALDS opener against the Guardians would just change his vantage point.

“I’ve had a taste of the fanbase for a long time and I know the expectation, I know what they’re about and I know how loud it gets,” he said. “To see it now, obviously being in the dugout, is really cool but all the emotion aside, we have business to take care of and I’m just excited to see them watch us in our pursuit of winning a World Series here.”

Bader grew up in Bronxville, about 20 minutes away from Yankee Stadium — a devoted fan whose favorite player was Roger Maris. But though his innards are all but coated in Yankee pinstripes, his trip to the Bronx hasn’t been a fully magical one — until Tuesday, that is.

Bader, whose acquisition in exchange for Jordan Montgomery didn’t exactly play too well with the fanbase, made his worth known in the Yankees 4-1 Game 1 win.

First, he saved a run in the top of the third: With one out and Amed Rosario on first and a run already in, Jose Ramirez hit a double to the gap that, in most other universes, would score the Guardians speedy shortstop. But Bader, one of the best defensive outfielders in baseball, and among the fastest, too, took a clean route to the ball and threw it in in a hurry, keeping Rosario at bay and helping Gerrit Cole get out of the jam without further damage.

In the bottom of the inning, Bader added his exclamation point — hitting Cal Quantrill’s full-count sinker 406-feet to left to tie the score. The ball had an exit velocity of 109.8-mph, his season high, and made him the first player in Yankees history to have his first home run with the team come in the playoffs.

In all, it’s proven to be a quick shift in narrative for Bader, who didn’t get into a Yankee game until Sept. 20 because of plantar fasciitis. Meanwhile, Montgomery — the well-liked lefty who many believed the Yankees should have retained for rotation depth — was thriving in St. Louis. In his first seven games with the Cardinals, he went 5-0 with a 2.28 ERA.

But, as Bader worked toward his return, Montgomery began to regress — pitching to a 6.64 ERA in his final four starts.

Maybe the most important reversal was this, though: Where Montgomery was pitching in August while Bader was idle, Tuesday, Bader was rounding the bases at his hometown ballpark while Montgomery’s season was over.