Corey Sipkin/New York Daily News
David Robertson doesn’t want to ‘overthink’ his planned move from set-up man to closer.
TAMPA – The last time David Robertson bumped into Mariano Rivera, the first thing the retired Yankee closer said to the man in line to replace him was: “You scared?”
Robertson laughed while recreating the playful trash talk last month from the Baseball Writers Association of America dinner. “I’m like, ‘No,’ Robertson said. “Typical Mo. He’s already all over my case already and I haven’t even thrown a pitch in 2014 yet.”
All kidding aside, Robertson added that Rivera “knows I can do it and I think I know I can do it. It’s just a matter of actually stepping out there and doing it.”
And that is what everyone around the Yankees will be watching as this season unfolds. Robertson’s likely promotion from eighth-inning setup man to the man replacing a best-ever star is one of the biggest storylines around the Yanks this year.
Robertson refuses to claim the job yet, saying, “It’s not mine, yet,” though he realizes that various members of the Yankee braintrust – Hal Steinbrenner, GM Brian Cashman, Joe Girardi – have given him first crack at closing.
In a conversation with several reporters outside the club’s minor-league complex after a pre-camp workout, Robertson several times made it clear he feels he must earn the job. He’s not overanalyzing the shift to the ninth inning, nor is he tracking every suggestion the Yankees must add a proven closer just in case.
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Simmons, Howard/New York Daily News
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“It’s the same deal – throwing the eighth or ninth inning, you still have to get three outs, you’ve got to be effective, you can’t give up the lead,” Robertson said. “In my eyes, I’m not going to try to overthink the situation.
“If I get the job at the end of spring, I’m going to do everything I can to hold it and help us win ballgames. Other than that, there’s really not too much for me to think about.”
Robertson, looking lean and fit, was in good spirits after a workday that included playing catch and running sprints in the outfield on a sunny, 70-degree morning.
When talk turned to the new players the Yankees added during a busy winter, he gushed wonder.
“New signings, new players, it could be like 2009 again!” Robertson said, referring to the pre-’09 spending spree that helped the Yanks win their last World Series. “I’m hoping it’s going to be just like 2009.”
He added: “We’re going to have pretty much a new team this year, a handful of staples, but new additions can sometimes bring life to a team and to a clubhouse, to a lineup, to anything and that can be something that turns our season around.”
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Corey Sipkin/New York Daily News
David Robertson refuses to call himself the Yankees closer, saying he must first earn the job.
So can a good closer, something the Yankees believe Robertson can be.
“He’s been in some huge situations here,” Yanks’ pitching coach Larry Rothschild said. “He’s been around Mo. He’s in a good position to know what he has to do…Now it’s just a matter of executing the pitches.”
Rothschild says he will talk to Robertson about all the potential hoopla that could develop because he is replaced the beloved Rivera, the all-time saves leader. He’s not worried about Robertson, though.
“There’s a lot that goes into it, but at the end of the day, it’s him going out there and doing what he’s done very well for a pretty good period of time now,” Rothschild said. “Unless he gets overwhelmed by the situation, I don’t anticipate major problems for him.
“He’s going to go through bumps in the road like anybody, like Mo did when he first started. But it’s how he handles it and the transition that’s going to matter.”
And, maybe, how he handles the former closer, too. Or at least his jokes. At that same dinner, Robertson cracked that Rivera would drive to the Stadium and “wear me out on my first blown one, right?”
“Oh, you know it,” Robertson recalled Rivera saying.
“I’m like, ‘Great. I’ll get pointers from the best in the world when he’s not even playing,’” Robertson said, laughing.
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