When we last left the Yankees in October, they figuratively lay on the ground, having been smacked down by their fiercest rivals in their own ballpark.

The Red Sox, defending champions for a few weeks more, didn’t even make it back to the playoff party. Yet their specter looms, for that 2018 American League Division Series Bronx beatdown left quite a mark.

You can’t discuss the Yankees who face the most heat this month without harking back, repeatedly, to that ALDS, the source of much current consternation.

Here are your five Yankees on the griddle:

1. Giancarlo Stanton

What a bizarre second year in pinstripes for Stanton, who followed up his 158-game maiden voyage with a slew of injuries that limited him to a paltry 18 regular-season contests, easily the lowest total of his career. Such a showing (or lack thereof) calls further into doubt the Yankees’ decision to acquire him from Derek Jeter’s Marlins in December 2017, and now seems like an optimal moment to mention his 4-for-18 (all singles), six-strikeout performance against the Sawx a year ago. With eight years and $214 million left on this bill, some big hits from Stanton this month would help both sides feel better about their long-term commitment.

2. Aaron Boone

Whereas Stanton’s chance at redemption stalled all season like a jalopy on its last legs, Boone has spent 2019 putting on a managing clinic, steering a dilapidated roster through every last injury and raving about his “savages” to unsuspecting umpires. His sophomore season on the job will likely lead to him being a finalist in the AL Manager of the Year voting. And the Yankees’ skipper needed a boost after his alarming inaction in last year’s ALDS — specifically not lifting starting pitchers Luis Severino and CC Sabathia from Games 3 and 4 until sufficient Bosox damage had been done — contributed to his club’s demise. Given those lessons, as well as the very makeup of the Yankees’ pitching staff, from whom length will not be expected, it would be both stunning and damning to see Boone act with the same deliberation this time around.

3. James Paxton

His likely ALDS Game 1 start and (the Yankees hope) beyond will help render judgment not only on Paxton, the most prominent Yankee on this roster who lacks postseason experience, but also on GM Brian Cashman, the man who acquired him last November. While Paxton lived up to his billing in the regular season’s final two-ish months, compiling a 2.45 ERA in 10 starts totaling 55 innings, he carries a greater burden because Cashman and the Yankees passed on pairing up Paxton with Patrick Corbin, who proceeded to put up a great year with the Nationals, in favor of J.A. Happ, who probably won’t start in this series due to his 4.91 ERA.

4. Luis Severino

OK, that’s enough time spent on something other than the 2018 ALDS. Surely you recall that in Game 3 of that series, with things tied at 1-1, Severino got hammered for six runs in three-plus innings in the wake of Warmup-gate, when TBS (and SNY) broadcaster Ron Darling wondered why Severino began throwing in the bullpen so close to first pitch. More to the point, that awful outing increased Severino’s career postseason ERA to 6.26 in six starts. That didn’t deter the Yankees from investing $40 million over four years in Severino, only to see him miss nearly all of this campaign with right shoulder and lat woes. After just three regular-season starts, can the right-hander save the Yankees and amend his “October liability” reputation?

5. Didi Gregorius

The shortstop’s career trajectory changed in last year’s ALDS Game 2, when he tore the UCL in his right elbow. Tommy John surgery left him out of commission until June, and he hasn’t been anywhere as good a player since his return as the one we remember. As The Post’s Joel Sherman points out, with free agency beckoning for the 29-year-old, this month marks his last chance to present his best self.