The Yankees avoided the worst possible outcome for now. With their poor injury luck this year, that has to be considered progress.

Manager Aaron Boone said Aaron Hicks will not need surgery on his injured right elbow, though his flexor strain did result in yet another injured list stint for the center fielder who missed the first six weeks of the season with a lower back strain. It is uncertain how long he will be out.

“Flexor strain, which in the scheme of things, we feel like is good news,” Boone said before the Yankees went for the four-game sweep of the skidding Red Sox on Sunday night in The Bronx. “We were fearing the worst. … Now it’s just making sure it’s healed and recovered.”

Hicks was taken out in the eighth inning of the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader sweep after feeling pain in his right elbow. An MRI revealed no ligament damage. He will be shut down from throwing for the next seven to 10 days before being reevaluated. Boone wouldn’t give an estimate on a possible return.

“At that point [when he’s reevaluated], hopefully he’s in a position to start ramping back up again,” Boone said. “But we’re optimistic that he’ll be back [this year].”

Hicks is the 26th Yankee to go on the IL, and joins a star-studded group that currently includes Dellin Betances, Luis Severino, Giancarlo Stanton, Gary Sanchez, Luke Voit and most recently Edwin Encarnacion.

Encarnacion suffered a right wrist hairline fracture in the opener on Saturday after getting hit by a pitch. He also will be re-evaluated in seven to 10 days and the slugger said on Saturday he was hoping to miss just three weeks. However, it could be longer.

Voit, who is dealing with a sports hernia, received a cortisone shot recently as he hopes to avoid potential season-ending surgery.

Mike Ford, called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, started at first base on Sunday, with DJ LeMahieu, who will see the bulk of the time there, getting the night off. Ford will also get at-bats at designated hitter. Gio Urshela can also play first base if needed, according to Boone.

Hicks was replaced on the active roster by J.A. Happ, Sunday night’s starter who had been on paternity leave. Boone said the Yankees are comfortable with their group of outfielders and promoting outfielder Clint Frazier wasn’t given consideration. Brett Gardner and Mike Tauchman will fill in for Hicks in center field while he’s out.

“Right now we feel like we’re covered and how we should be,” Boone said.

Despite all the injuries, the Yankees entered play Sunday night 32 games over .500 at 71-39, 7 ¹/₂ games ahead of the Rays in the AL East and with the fewest losses in all of baseball. The backups to the backups have excelled.

“Throw out the record, I don’t remember this many people — obviously significant people — that have missed serious time for us,” the manager said. “But credit again to those guys across the board. So many people have stepped up and impacted us winning games.

“They’ve really done a great job and it’s why I feel like anything that’s come up, whether it’s been [an] injury, whether it’s been a bump in the road during the season, anything adverse that seems to happen to this group, they don’t flinch. And they know what the expectation is, and they’ve gone out and delivered.”