Potential Anthony Volpe injury couldn't have arrived at worse time for Yankees

After Friday night's win over the Boston Red Sox, there was concern for New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe, who was hit by a pitch in the second inning and removed by the fifth. A Walker Buehler fastball plunked the young slugger in the elbow.

Initially, many believed it was for precautionary reasons since the Yankees were up 7-1. But it turns out Volpe is hurting a bit, as he's been left out of Saturday night's lineup. He's undergoing treatment for a "pretty good size swelling," according to manager Aaron Boone.

Fans are obviously hoping for the best, but they also know how these things turn out. One minute somebody is day-to-day, and a few hours later they're on the injured list. For as much as we'd like to believe Volpe will be back in the lineup for Sunday Night Baseball — Boone's words — we're just not going to hold our breath.

And of course, this injury scare comes just as Volpe was putting together a productive stretch that had the critics fading into the background. Over the last month, he's hitting .245 with a .748 OPS, three home runs, 16 RBI and 10 walks.

He drove in three runs Friday night with a two-run homer and an RBI on the hit by pitch in the 9-6 win. His left elbow got pelted pretty hard.

Yankees Injury Update: Anthony Volpe dealing with swelling on elbow

Boone revealed after Friday night's game that the x-rays and CT scans came back negative on Volpe's elbow, so that's a good sign. But the persistent swelling gave the team pause Sunday evening. Boone originally had Volpe in the lineup but ended up scratching him.

Volpe hasn't been lighting the world on fire by any means this season, but it's perhaps the most comfortable he's been offensively. He's gotten to settle in nicely toward the bottom of the lineup with the pressure off of him a bit as the rest of the offense has maintained a consistent groove fans haven't seen in quite some time. Outside of Volpe's slump earlier in the year (and the fact he was batting fifth against the Dodgers), there hasn't been much to nitpick with his play. He's unfortunately been a target of such criticism.

The whole goal for the Yankees is getting Volpe in a spot where he can focus on getting himself right offensively without too much outside noise. They had finally reached that point with his stretch of play over the last month, but now it's in danger of being interrupted if his elbow issue doesn't improve. Hopefully this takes the positive turn the team is expecting by Sunday morning.