ARLINGTON -- Royals catcher Martín Maldonado was removed from Saturday’s 6-2 loss to the Rangers at Globe Life Park before the bottom of the sixth inning as a precaution because of tightness in his right forearm.

Manager Ned Yost said the plan was to give Maldonado a rest on Sunday anyway ahead of the off-day Monday.

“It’s going to be a little sore tomorrow -- probably what he did was, when he threw, he banged the back of his elbow, but the tendon and all the structure in his elbow [are] very sound, very strong,” Yost said.

Maldonado has played in 45 games for Kansas City this season, starting 42 at catcher, and is hitting .211, including an RBI double in the fifth inning Saturday. He caught the bottom half of the fifth and was replaced by Cam Gallagher an inning later.