The Orioles may have made the best hitter in baseball even better by lighting a fire underneath him.

Jun 18, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge (99) walks first base after being hit by a pitch during the third inning by Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Albert Suarez (49) at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports / Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

The entire New York Yankees fan base collectively held their breath in the moments following Aaron Judge’s most recent at-bat.

Albert Suarez of the Baltimore Orioles went up and in with a fastball, drilling Judge on the hand in a moment that looked strikingly similar to the pitch that broke a bone in Mookie Betts’ hand a few days ago. The worst-case scenario ran through all the fans’ heads, picturing what this lineup would look like if Judge did just suffer a broken hand.

Judge stayed in the game for a few innings but was eventually taken out and taken to a nearby hospital to undergo testing and imaging.

After a few hours, that felt like years, the results came back that the X-rays were negative for the Yankees slugger. The entire baseball world could let out a collective sigh of relief as Judge is putting together a truly historic season and you would never wish injury on anybody.

The Baltimore Orioles may have lit a fire under their rivals best player.

Aaron Judge is ‘definitely pissed’, looks to play following scary HBP

Judge was asked about how he felt about the Orioles pitcher that drilled him and his response was pretty straight to the point.

“Definitely pissed, there was a couple balls up and in. It’s part of it, they like to throw in,” Judge said in response to a question about Orioles pitcher Albert Suarez.

That response is quite scary and a bit ominous for the rest of the league, especially considering Judge doesn’t intend on missing any time. He claims to be fine and the X-rays came back negative. He’s already doing everything he can to be back in the lineup the next day.

“I told Boone I want to be in there tomorrow, so we’ll see,” Judge said, following the negative results to the X-rays on his hand.

An angry Aaron Judge could end up being a player out of folklores. He’s already putting together one of the most impressive first halves of all time, and now he has a fire lit under him that wasn’t there before.

With the Orioles and Yankees jockeying back and forth for the top spot in the AL East, an angry Aaron Judge may be the Orioles’ worst nightmare. It’ll be interesting to see how he plays against Baltimore for the rest of the season.