Girardi knows what he wants to do with Miller-less bullpen

Losing a shutdown closer like Andrew Miller certainly won't help the Yankees in the long run, but manager Joe Girardi has a plan to weaken the blow.

The plan includes more reliance on youngster Chasen Shreve, Girardi said Wednesday.

"I've said Shreve's my seventh (inning man), (Justin) Wilson's my eighth and Dellin (Betances) is my ninth," Girardi told NJ.com's Ryan Hatch. "That's what it is right now, and we'll continue to go with that."

The Yankees have won twice since Miller was placed on the DL with a forearm strain, and in both victories, Girardi has followed his new strategy. Wednesday's contest, however, proved that the Yankees' bullpen is still somewhat unreliable without the lefty -- Wilson having recorded just one out in the eighth before the Marlins had runners on the corners.

Indeed, question marks remain throughout the Yankees' late innings -- even with Betances regularly dominating everyone.

"(Betances) doesn't really need to show me anything else," Girardi said. 

Betances has successfully converted both of his save opportunities over the last week, lowering his already-phenomenal ERA to 0.26. It's fair to say he's the pen's best arm at the moment, though Shreve and Wilson have also showed promise in recent weeks.

And considering how inconsistent the Yankees have been this season, they're likely going to have to keep it up.

"We've just got to go out there and pick up whoever needs to be picked up," Shreve said in April, via the New York Post. "And we've been doing that well."