So much for the Yankees’ crowded outfield.

After surviving the roster crunch Thursday night ahead of Aaron Judge’s return, Cameron Maybin remained in the starting lineup Friday to give Aaron Hicks’ inflamed right shoulder an extra day off. Except by the top of the fourth, it was Hicks replacing Maybin in the outfield and Maybin headed for the MRI machine.

Maybin suffered a strained left calf in the bottom of the third and described the feeling as a “pop” to manager Aaron Boone. He will go on the injured list, with a corresponding roster move to be determined.

“It’ll be a while,” Boone said after the Yankees beat the Astros 4-1.

Maybin, who had singled to lead off the inning to stay red-hot and bump his batting average to .314, limped back into the dugout after scoring on Gary Sanchez’s home run. He is the fifth Yankee to suffer a calf strain this season, joining Troy Tulowitzki, Kendrys Morales, Giancarlo Stanton and Sanchez.

Maybin was starting in left field, with Brett Gardner in center, Judge in right and Stanton at DH, because Boone wanted to give Hicks another day to rest a sore and tight right shoulder. Hicks got a cortisone injection on Thursday after an MRI exam revealed inflammation.

He said his shoulder had been hurting for about a week-and-a-half, but he tried to play through it.

“I took a swing the other day right-handed and the trainers started to come around and ask questions about what’s going on,” Hicks said. “I think it’s pretty much just day-to-day.”

Of course, the Yankees thought Hicks needed only a day or two in spring training when he had back stiffness. It wound up costing him the first 40 games of the season.

Hicks is batting .194 (20-for-101) in 28 games this season. The switch-hitter has shown flashes of getting back to his usual self, but said the shoulder may have been holding him back.

“I feel like it’s been affecting my performance,” said Hicks, who signed a seven-year, $70 million extension this spring. “It just wasn’t getting better and now we’re at this point.”

Boone said he doesn’t necessarily feel the Yankees needed to call up an outfielder — with Clint Frazier or Mike Tauchman as options — to protect themselves with Maybin out and Hicks battling the shoulder injury. The plan was for Judge to be built back up gradually as an everyday player while Stanton saw more action in left field to free up the DH.

“Once it kicks in [Saturday], I think I should be good,” Hicks said. “I plan on playing [Saturday].”