TAMPA — Aaron Judge took the field for the first time Saturday and had a hard two-run single through the left side of the infield in his second at-bat.

“I was glad to be back out there,’’ Judge said. “I was kind of itching, seeing everybody else do their thing and everybody looking so good. It’s time to get going.”

There wasn’t much to find fault in Judge’s historic offensive season last year, in which he managed to outdo his record-breaking performance from 2022 with career highs in most categories en route to a second MVP award.

But in addition to the way the season ended for Judge — whose slump in the playoffs helped cost the Yankees the World Series — he also didn’t get off to a strong start to the regular season.

That’s why Judge said he’s looking to get some extra work in at the plate before Opening Day, starting with the two at-bats he got in a 9-3 Grapefruit League win over Houston at Steinbrenner Field on Saturday.

This comes after Judge got 24 at-bats in Grapefruit League games last spring — in part because Aaron Boone said Judge was “mid-spring beat up” and the manager gave him 10 days off.

Judge said he wants to have 40 or 50 at-bats this spring, either in spring training games or in simulated games on the back fields.

“It might help us start April off a little better,’’ Judge said of the plan.

Last year, Judge had just six homers and a .414 slugging percentage, to go along with a .754 OPS, at the end of April.

And while those numbers were by far the worst of any month of his season, his .940 career OPS in April, while the envy of just about every other hitter in the majors, is the lowest of any month.

Asked if he didn’t feel “ready” last April, Judge said, “I definitely felt prepared, but looking into it, maybe this is one avenue to help us get a better start.”

He added of his slow first month: “I felt ready. I definitely felt ready going into Opening Day, but when you reflect on the season and look back, ‘What can I maybe try to improve?’ If you want to improve your bench press, you do more push-ups. Whatever you’ve got to do. If I want to improve my season, more at-bats will maybe help me start the season better.”

Of course, Judge was a monster the rest of the regular season.

After May 4, Judge led the majors in just about every offensive category, far outpacing even the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, with a 1.282 OPS, 52 homers and a .790 slugging percentage, while hitting .357 and compiling a WAR of 10.8, according to FanGraphs.

With Giancarlo Stanton out indefinitely with tennis elbow in both elbows — an injury that will keep Stanton out at least into the beginning of the regular season — Judge will be relied upon even more.

And last year, Judge also had the luxury of hitting behind Juan Soto, who is now across town with the Mets.

Now, it’s Judge’s show, perhaps more than ever before.