The New York Yankees Would Be Fine Even Without Juan Soto

Deflate a hotly anticipated baseball weekend series by adding one letter. I’ll go first.

Rumble in the Bronx = Grumble in the Bronx.

New Yorkers were left to grumble as they waited for imaging results on Juan Soto’s left forearm, fearing the worst for the Yankees’ star right fielder. Soto left in the sixth inning of Thursday’s victory against the Minnesota Twins with forearm discomfort, as a 56-minute rain delay ultimately irritated a nagging ailment with at least some shelf life.

Manager Aaron Boone revealed the MRI showed merely inflammation, nothing worse, but Soto is still day-to-day and not in the starting lineup for a major series with their fellow front-runners, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Even if he’s forced to miss the entire three-game showdown, the Yanks shouldn’t totally crumble into panic mode.

They’ve won eight in a row, after all, and while Soto has played well during that run -- and all season -- there are other forces behind the club’s surge.

Starting pitching is most prominent. Rookie right-hander Luis Gil, who’s set to get the call in the series finale on Sunday, has won seven straight starts.

His eight innings of one-run, two-hit, nine-strikeout ball on May 29 propelled New York past the host Los Angeles Angels 2-1 for its first win of this current tear. It also extended a big league-record for the starting rotation, making 16 straight games in which the staff pitched at least five innings while allowing two runs or fewer.

The record was halted the following night amid a quality start from lefty Carlos Rodon, who yielded, gasp, three runs and three hits in six innings against the Angels.

Mortality and all, the Yankees enter the weekend with a big league-best 2.81 team ERA. Four starters boast at least five wins, with Gil and Rodon at eight apiece.

“I feel we’re a pretty confident group,” righty Marcus Stroman said Thursday. “I think when we go out, we expect to win.”

Surely, a slugging Soto has helped solidify that sentiment. He leads the Yankees in hits (76), runs (49) and batting average (.318), while his 17 home runs and 53 RBIs trail only center fielder Aaron Judge (21 and 54, respectively).

Big hits continue to come from elsewhere, too. Giancarlo Stanton’s power numbers of 15 home runs and 36 RBIs are solid and Anthony Volpe ranks second in the majors with six triples.

On Thursday, reserve outfielder Trent Grisham, who arrived with Soto from San Diego in a December trade, delivered a home run and three RBIs.

“One of the really special things going on is the many contributions we’re getting and the variety of ways we’re getting them,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

Lately, Soto has been doing his part at somewhere less than 100 percent.

“Just woke up one day, felt the tightness and discomfort in my forearm and we’ve been working on it and we’ve been trying to get away with it, and it hasn’t (subsided),” Soto said.

If Soto misses some or all of the showdown with the Dodgers, baseball won’t crumble. LA’s Shohei Ohtani is among the cast of visiting stars.

But the Yankees still ought to feel cocky about their cast, independent of a glitzy offseason acquisition.

Humble in the Bronx? Why start now?