TAMPA — Aaron Judge proved last year he can take a punch. How will he handle a slap on the wrist?

Here’s hoping he reacts similarly.

The cheery Yankees slugger found himself in the unprecedented position Thursday morning, at George M. Steinbrenner Field, of offering a mea culpa for his misdemeanor of perceived tampering. He had captured the attention of Major League Baseball’s central office by revealing Wednesday that he told Orioles superstar Manny Machado, who can be a free agent after this season, that “He’d look good in pinstripes.”

“[Brian] Cashman called briefly and spoke about it, gave me a refresher that MLB’s sensitive to that kind of stuff,” Judge said. “That’s about it.”

That is about it, in terms of what actually transpired. Judge, starting at designated hitter, proceeded to single, double and walk twice, scoring two runs and driving in two, in the Yankees’ 9-5 victory over the Pirates.

The MLB bigwigs think the world of Judge, the reigning American League Rookie of the Year who led the Yankees’ charge back into relevance and who paced all AL players in All-Star Game voting. After Judge won the Home Run Derby in thrilling fashion last year in Miami, commissioner Rob Manfred described him as “the kind of player who can become the face of the game.”

Rest assured MLB took no delight in scolding Judge. Nevertheless, the league’s chief legal officer, Dan Halem, had little choice but to reach out to Cashman when Judge so clearly crossed the tampering line with his public words.

That’s his public words, to the media, rather than his private words to Machado. Conversations like the one between Judge and Machado are unpoliceable unless someone reports it. And if Judge had been seriously recruiting Machado, he surely wouldn’t have reported himself.

The reality is the Yankees don’t need to tamper to try to land Machado next winter. Like the rest of us, Machado can see the Yankees’ determination to go under the $197 million luxury-tax threshold this season to reset their tax rate for next winter’s intriguing free-agent class headlined by Machado and Bryce Harper. The shortstop/third baseman can see that the Yankees haven’t committed long-term to a third baseman, with neither Brandon Drury nor Miguel Andujar immovable, and that shortstop Didi Gregorius can be a free agent after next year.

There exists no actual concern Judge was working to help the Yankees woo Machado. Rather, sometimes you have to address bad optics.

“Now I know,” Judge said. “A little refresher. You learn something new every day.”

He smiled as he spoke, yet he clearly didn’t want to engage too long on this line of questioning. If he doesn’t rank as the most quotable guy in the world — he shares Derek Jeter’s allergy of talking about himself, always steering it to the team — Judge consistently emits good energy and occasionally snaps off a good one-liner. A clear bond extends from that to his impressive interaction with fans, be they admirers like nearly everyone in The Bronx or haters like the White Sox fans whom Judge stared down after going deep at U.S. Cellular Field last season. It would be unfortunate if he grew more cautious or wary because of one mishap.

“I don’t have any worries with Aaron Judge,” Cashman said. “… I think even Major League Baseball recognizes that our players have an added burden than most because they operate in a larger market.

“… Aaron Judge brings his A game every day. But you can’t throw a perfect game every day, either. … There are certainly no intentions on creating any difficulties for everybody. I made sure Aaron understood the commissioner’s perspective on it. He does.”

In his first 41 games following the Home Run Derby last year, Judge slashed .179/.341/.352 as he underwent regular treatment for his left shoulder, which he might have hurt at the derby. He rebounded with a fantastic September and some huge hits in October. He didn’t change.

The game would be best served if this episode doesn’t change Judge, either. After all, you don’t want to tamper with a good thing.