HOUSTON — The last time Joe Girardi turned to David Robertson to be the closer, he had a safety net in Rafael Soriano. And when Robertson struggled after Mariano Rivera was lost for the year in 2012 and then landed on the DL himself, Girardi turned to Soriano.
This year, there is no Plan B.
“I don’t go into the season thinking he’s not going to be our closer or I’m going to have a short leash,” Girardi said before the Yankees worked out at Minute Maid Park on Monday. “He’s our closer.”
And after an offseason of hearing he would compete to become the closer and then a spring training of knowing the job would be his, Robertson knows there’s one more hurdle.
“I don’t have any saves or even innings yet,” Robertson said. “Maybe in a couple of weeks, I’ll feel like it’s different. But right now, it just feels like another year. Hopefully I start off hot.”
Regardless, there will be rough patches.
“For the most part, it’s new for him, but I expect good things,” said Girardi, who knows that Robertson will cough up a lead at some point and isn’t worried about how he will handle it.
“I think our club is a veteran club and I think they’ll turn the page,” the manager said. “I think they’ll be behind him. There’s no doubt he’s going to blow a save. It just happens. I think his teammates will have his back and I think he’ll bounce back.”
As for a drop-off in velocity this spring, as several scouts told The Post Sunday, Girardi insisted he is confident Robertson is fine.
“That’s not what we had on our gun,” said Girardi, who said Robertson was at his typical 91-93 mph.
Kelly Johnson is the Yankees’ Opening Day third baseman while Alex Rodriguez is suspended for the season. It’s a big change for both, but Johnson hasn’t been dominated with questions about replacing Rodriguez.
“People talked about it in passing, but this is a different team,” Johnson said, who has played third base in only 16 big league games. “I think I had as good a spring as I could hope for in trying to gain experience for the start of the year. It’s an ongoing process and I’ll continue to do the same work, but during the regular season it’s a little more of a challenge to carve out time. There’s still plenty of work ahead. It’s game time now.’’
Brett Gardner will bat seventh Tuesday night against right-hander Scott Feldman. Gardner has the most at-bats hitting first or ninth, but did recall hitting well when he was batting seventh or eighth.
“I think they are good numbers,’’ Gardner said.
He is right. As a seventh-place hitter Gardner is batting .337 (31-for-92) and a .335 (75-for-224) hitting eighth.
Andy Pettitte, who is scheduled to take part in a pregame ceremony Wednesday night honoring Derek Jeter with Roger Clemens, Chuck Knoblauch and Charlie Hayes, was in the Yankees’ clubhouse Monday and threw batting practice during the workout.
Asked how Jeter will handle a farewell tour, Pettitte said it will be different than what Mariano Rivera experienced last year.
“He will be so focused on baseball, I am sure he will enjoy them but he has to get ready for a ballgame,’’ Pettitte said. “It will be different. For Mo, he had a whole game to go into the clubhouse and do his routine.’’
Mark Teixeira doesn’t believe the ceremonies will affect Jeter.
“He has games to play, I wouldn’t expect anything else out of Derek,’’ Teixeira said.
Pettitte reported that his son, Josh, a freshman pitcher at Baylor and a late-round draft pick of the Yankees last June underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow 3 ½ weeks ago.
The Yankees will officially put Brendan Ryan (neck problem) on the DL Tuesday and add infielder Yangervis Solarte to the 25-man roster for Opening Day.
Catcher Brian McCann said the move from the Braves to the Yankees would have been more difficult had the Yankees housed young pitchers.
“It’s a pleasure to work with veteran guys. The transition hasn’t been as hard as it would have been with a lot of rookies,’’ McCann said.
With David Phelps, Adam Warren and Vidal Nuno in the bullpen and able to provide length, Girardi said the plan is to have at least one of them prepared to pitch more than an inning or two.
“You have to make sure that you almost have one of them every day, that’s the idea,’’ Girardi said. “I anticipate us having some multiple innings guys so our bullpen will have a different look. Most of the years I have been here it’s been drawn out, seven, eight, nine but that’s not so clear now.’’
As Brian Roberts prepared for Monday’s workout the Red Sox-Orioles game was on the clubhouse television.
Asked if that felt weird watching the team he spent 12 years with and was the only one he ever played for before signing with the Yankees, Roberts said, “A little bit, yeah.’’
Two lockers away Jacoby Ellsbury was collecting his bats and was asked if he thought about the Red Sox playing on Opening Day without him.
“I haven’t really thought about it, I am getting ready for [Tuesday],’’ Ellsbury said.