Yankees doomsday fears ignited after Aaron Judge HBP

Over the last month and a half, Aaron Judge has put on a show few have put on in MLB history. In the 46 games he played since April 27, he had slashed .374/.490/.890 with 22 home runs and 51 RBI entering Tuesday's action. No typos there. He has put up video game numbers for a very prolonged stretch.

Judge has put this New York Yankees team entirely on his back, leading them to a 50-24 record, good for first place in the AL East. They entered Tuesday's series opener against the Baltimore Orioles holding a skinny 1.5-game lead over the O's, hoping that Judge would help them on their home turf gain some ground.

He singled in his first at-bat, but his second plate appearance brought the last thing any Yankees fan would've wanted to see. Judge was hit by an Albert Suarez fastball right in the hand, immediately drawing the trainers to check on him.

Judge would stay in the game to run the bases and even scored a run before heading straight into the clubhouse after. That brought the worst fears out of fans, but Judge wound up running out to center field to start the next inning. He seemed to be fine after appearing from the clubhouse, until he wasn't.

Yankees fourth outfielder Trent Grisham appeared on the on-deck circle by the time Judge was set to take his next at-bat, and did end up hitting for the former MVP winner. Bad news.

Yankees fans fear the worst after Aaron Judge leaves game with injury

This was shaping up to be such an exciting series between the two best teams in the American League. Ben Rice is making his MLB debut as we speak. Gerrit Cole is set to make his season debut for the second game of the series. Luis Gil is slated to start the finale of the series, potentially bolstering his Cy Young case against a lethal Orioles offense.

Now, all Yankees fans can do is hold their breath and hope for the best. Arguably the best player in the game right now is staring at an extended absence right in the face.

Hopefully, this turns out to be nothing more than a big bruise caused by getting hit by a 94.1 mph fastball right in the hand. The worst-case scenario, of course, is a break of some sort, causing Judge to miss an extended period of time. We've already seen what this offense looks like without Juan Soto for a brief period, and it was not pretty.

Hopefully, the fact that Judge didn't immediately exit the game means he has dodged the worst. Only time will tell.