Yankees’ Jake Cousins hoping to return for playoffs

Jake Cousins came out of his MRI exam and meeting with team physician Dr. Chris Ahmad unscathed.

The Yankees reliever, who landed on the injured list Sunday with a right pectoral strain, said Tuesday that Monday’s imaging was “very encouraging” and did not reveal anything “scary,” giving him a chance to return by the time the ALDS begins on Oct. 5.

“That’s the goal,” Cousins said Tuesday before the Yankees opened a series against the Orioles in The Bronx.

The plan is for Cousins to take a few more days off from throwing as he focuses on strength exercises before starting to throw again.

Manager Aaron Boone pointed to Thursday as the day that could happen. If all goes well, he could advance to bullpen sessions and facing hitters by next week.

The last time Cousins played catch was on Saturday in Oakland, which is what led the Yankees to decide they needed to put him on the IL to get him right before the postseason.

“[I felt it] enough to where it was kind of going to be similar to the outing in Seattle where I wasn’t going to be able to throw 100 percent,” Cousins said, referring to a six-pitch appearance on Thursday that ended with him walking off the mound with a trainer. “Just made the decision to take things a little slower and make sure I come back full go.”

The timing of the IL stint — retroactive to Friday — was strategic. The first day Cousins can be activated is Game 1 of the ALDS, and the right-hander is an integral part of the late-inning bullpen mix when healthy.

“We’re optimistic,” Boone said. “I think all the testing proved pretty good, kind of what we expected. But we still got to get there.”

As soon as the Yankees clinch the AL East, a decision awaits on how to handle the five-day layoff next week before the ALDS.

Last year, three of four teams who had first-round byes lost in the ALDS, generating plenty of debate over whether the rest was actually good for teams.

Boone insisted Tuesday afternoon that the Yankees had not yet gotten to that point because they had not yet clinched the division, but would tackle it once they did.

“It’s tournament baseball, so if you can eliminate one of the steps — especially a best-of-three [wild-card series] where anything can absolutely happen — you want to shorten it as much as you can,” Boone said. “Teams have tried everything as far as staying sharp, different tactics. I don’t think there’s one magic answer to it or magic pill.

“It’s still baseball and it comes down to who’s in that groove when you get rolling into a series. We’ll do all we can to hopefully stay as ready as possible for whatever scenario presents itself and then go out and compete our asses off.”

Knicks forward Josh Hart — wearing the No. 32 jersey of his great-uncle, Elston Howard — threw out the first pitch before Tuesday’s game after spending time with Giancarlo Stanton, Juan Soto and Anthony Volpe during batting practice.