The great Aaron Judge needs to be moved down the batting order. Not all the way to hole number 8, as Alex Rodriguez collapsed in 2006. But at least until the clean-up spot.

It’s hard to imagine Aaron Boone giving his favorite player even the slightest demotion (they’re all his favorites, but above all, he’s his favorite, and for good reason). But it really should happen.

Judge is simply no longer himself in October.

In Game 1, Judge finished one for five with three strikeouts, batting .167 in October and suffered the indignity of a pop-out after the Dodgers intentionally walked Juan Soto to get him during the 6-3 loss of the Yankees in overtime Friday night.

The even bigger reason this needs to happen is that Giancarlo Stanton has become the terror of this postseason derby, homering in his fourth straight game.

While Soto and Judge were the dynamic duo of at least a decade in the regular year, now it’s Soto and Stanton who form that great tandem.

Stanton’s absolute bomb of a home run (with Soto aboard) drove home the Yankees’ first runs in their 5-3, 10-inning Game 1 loss.

Stanton wants a ring, like he said, and if you make him a mistake, he won’t miss it.

Stanton is a Los Angeleno (from Panorama City) and one of the reasons he’s a Yankee is because he invoked his no-trade against the Giants because he didn’t want to play for his hometown team’s rival to play. He loved the idea of ​​being a Yankee, and he thrives in October – in that regard, he’s the perfect pinstripe player.