TORONTO — A year ago Aaron Judge barely nosed out Aaron Hicks for the Yankees’ starting right-field job.

That Hal Steinbrenner had labeled Judge “my right fielder’’ following the 2016 season likely played a part in the decision.

Now, after showing All-Star-caliber tools when healthy last year, the switch-hitting Hicks is about to start the season Thursday against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre with a choke hold on the starting center-field job.

“It’s exciting. It’s all about what you do one year setting you up,” Hicks told The Post. “It’s a good opportunity.”

Even if Jacoby Ellsbury, last year’s Opening Day starter in center, was healthy, he wasn’t going to take Hicks’ job. Brett Gardner is a left fielder who can play center, but the Yankees believe he is a better fit in left, especially in Yankee Stadium.

Hicks is aware what the position where Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle roamed means in Yankees’ lore. He has talked to Bernie Williams, the last great Yankees center fielder, about it.

“They have had some great guys play center field,’’ Hicks said. “I talk [to Williams] all the time. He was a switch hitter, a great defender and played Gold Glove defense.”

Williams, a five-time All-Star with four Gold Gloves, a batting title, 2,336 hits, 297 homers and an .858 OPS, plans to stay in touch with Hicks after talking in spring training.

“I will follow up during the year,’’ Williams said. “Defensively, he has a better arm than me.’’

As for roaming where DiMaggio, Mantle and Williams chased down balls in a much bigger Yankee Stadium, Williams said the longer Hicks plays center field, the more he will become aware of the magnitude of the position.

“I wasn’t aware too much in the first half of my career. In the second half, I was very aware because you were constantly hearing about it,’’ said Williams, a Yankee from 1991 to 2006 who hit .300 or better from 1995 to 2002 and was part of four World Series championship teams. “The first half of my career, I was just trying to make it.’’

Hicks, who took over in center field when Ellsbury went on the disabled list with a concussion suffered on May 24, was in the middle of a possible All-Star season when he went on the DL on June 26 with a right oblique problem he originally suffered June 15 in Oakland.

On June 15, Hicks was hitting .306 with 10 homers, 36 RBIs and a .968 OPS. When he returned from the DL, he batted .207 with three homers, 11 RBIs and a .635 OPS in 22 games. He went back on the DL on Sept. 3 with a left oblique issue. Hicks returned on Sept. 26 and in six games hit .286 with two homers, four RBIs and a 1.188 OPS.

The strong finish didn’t carry over to the postseason, when Hicks batted .196 (9-for-46) with a .564 OPS.

With Greg Bird out for at least eight weeks, the Yankees need Hicks to play like he did for the first 10 weeks of last season because, when healthy, he is a force at the plate and in the field.

And he’s well aware what a player does in one year impacts the next.