If it was surreal and weird to see a shorn and clean-shaven Andrew McCutchen in pinstripes leading off and in right field for the Yankees at the Stadium on Saturday afternoon against the Tigers, it was comforting to see Gary Sanchez resume his rightful role behind home plate after a 37-game stay on the disabled list.

But the feel-good vibe around the catcher’s return will last only if Sanchez can become a facsimile of the feared middle-of-the-order presence he was his first two seasons in crushing 53 home runs in 672 at-bats with a .923 OPS and a .284/.354/.568 slash line rather than continuing as the disappointing imposter who departed the lineup as a center of controversy with 14 homers in 245 at bats with a .689 OPS, a .188/.283/.416 slash line and a pronounced penchant for lackadaisical play.

The Yankees got two hits against Detroit that were somehow enough to produce a 2-1 victory behind seven strong innings from Masahiro Tanaka and a scoreless frame apiece from Jonathan Holder and Dellin Betances. McCutchen went 0-for-3 with a hit by pitch. Sanchez hit the ball hard twice, once to the track in left-center, but finished the afternoon 0-for-4 at an inconceivable .185/.279/.410.

It is imperative that these numbers All Rise over the final month. For not only must Sanchez be the better version of himself the rest of the way, he is going to have to assume much of the responsibility to pick up the slack — Slack? Who said that? — for Aaron Judge is his as it becomes more problematic by the day to count on No. 99 coming to the rescue.

“The expectation continues to be that we will get [Judge] back at some date. At some point we will see him. At least that’s what [the doctors] tell us,” general manager Brian Cashman said. “Fingers crossed that it will be sooner rather than later.

“[When he does return], maybe it won’t be possible for him to be the locked-in Aaron Judge, but he can still do damage.”

No Yankee has been more damaged by this season than Sanchez, with most of it self-inflicted by the time he went on the DL with a groin injury for the second time following a July 23 defeat at Tampa Bay. That’s the game in which Sanchez sullied his reputation when he allowed a runner to score from second base on a passed ball after failing to run hard after it then made the final out when he stopped running on a ground ball up the middle because he assumed a force out would be made at second base.

This provided a microcosm of Sanchez’s season, through which he had allowed 10 passed balls in 55 games catching — the major league leaders have 12 — and has displayed a disturbing penchant for lollygagging out of the box.

Sanchez appeared to be a different guy upon his return Saturday. He busted hard down the line on a second-inning grounder to third and nearly beat the high throw from Niko Goodrum. More importantly, as applies to the game’s outcome and to the mental health of the pitching staff, Sanchez blocked three pitches in the dirt from Tanaka with the tying run on third and the go-ahead run on second with two out in the seventh before the pitcher fanned Jim Adduci.

“I thought Gary looked really good,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He caught great, with his pitch framing and those big blocks late.”

It is more a requirement than a hope that this hiatus revitalized the 25-year-old, who became the first face of the Yankees’ rebuilding effort when he finished second in the 2016 Rookie of the Year voting even though he had played just 53 games.

“I don’t think Gary wanted the break,” Boone said. “He’s a grinder who wants to play, but I would just say that he is in a really good place. He’s done a really good job at working on getting healthy and working hard behind the scenes on his defense, batting practice and running.

“I think everyone realizes what he’s capable of. He’s a born hitter.”

Seeing is believing. Everyone believed in Sanchez his first two seasons, even if he could be loose and lax defensively and ran about as hard to first base as Robinson Cano. Now, though, the burden is on Sanchez to prove himself all over again.

The Yankees are 86-50 and on a 102-60 pace. Still, even while coping with the absence of important people like Judge, Sanchez, Didi Gregorius and Aroldis Chapman (whose status was left in doubt by Cashman), the team has somehow left everyone wanting more.

And needing more from Sanchez. Much more.