Tuesday night was the start of a big series for the New York Yankees. They were set to host the Baltimore Orioles for a three-game series in very important games. But, the energy was sucked out of Yankee Stadium when Aaron Judge looked to suffer an injury.
In the third inning, Orioles starting pitcher Albert Suarez went up and in. A 94 MPB fastball would hit Aaron Judge in the hand, causing a collective gasp among New York Yankees fans and teammates in the building.
“I was definitely pissed,” Judge said. “There was a couple of balls up and in, but it’s part of it. They like to throw in. So, part of it.”
Everyone started running Doomsday scenarios through their heads. If Aaron Judge was sidelined, would they be able to hold onto their place atop the AL East? Would their World Series hopes be dashed by another injury to their star slugger?
Luckily, they won’t have to worry about that. After the game, Aaron Judge took an X-ray and CT Scan and both came out negative. That is as good of an update as the New York Yankees and their fans could have hoped for.
“Any time you get hit by 94, 95 up and in like that, especially on the hand where there’s so many small bones and ligaments, and stuff like that, you just never know what’s going to happen or what it’s going to be,” Judge said. “So, getting that good news is a good thing.”
That wasn’t the only incident with a New York Yankees player getting drilled by an Orioles pitcher. In the fifth inning, second baseman Gleyber Torres was hit in the hand by Keegan Akin with another 94 MPH pitch. That drew a response from outfielder Alex Verdugo, who was on the top step of the dugout yelling out to the Baltimore players.
“At the end of the day, we don’t take what happened lightly,” Yankees left fielder Alex Verdugo said. “Obviously, [Judge], it’s a big one for us, so none of us are too pleased about it. At the same time, I don’t believe it was intentional. It was just one of those things where a couple of pitches got away from their guys. It’s one of those things after you hit somebody, if you can’t go in, don’t go in that way. It’s just one of those things. We’ll see what happens.”
Tensions were certainly high on Tuesday night and it will be interesting to see how things unfold the rest of the series. The New York Yankees look to have avoided a crisis this time, but they certainly don’t want to tempt fate with their star centerfielder who has dealt with a multitude of injuries in his career.
Aaron Judge is pushing to be in the lineup on Wednesday night. That is a big night for the New York Yankees, as their ace Gerrit Cole will be making his much-anticipated 2024 debut.
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